Mike Olt delivered a walk-off, two-run single with two outs, and the Portland Sea Dogs (9-5) scored four times in the ninth inning to win the Eastern League rubber match against the Trenton Thunder (9-7), 6-5 on Sunday afternoon at Hadlock Field.
Portland trailed 5-0 after five innings and 5-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth before the four-run rally. After an infield single by Tzu-Wei Lin to lead off the ninth, Joseph Monge hit a two-run homer over the Maine Monster off of Travis Hissong to cut the deficit to one run. The homer was Monge’s first in Double-A.
Aneury Tavarez doubled and the Thunder brought in Cale Coshow to try and close out the game. But Heiker Meneses singled to put runners on the corners, and after Coshow struck out Cole Sturgeon, Olt delivered the game-winning hit.
Trenton took an early lead in the second inning on a two-out, two-run double by Abiatal Avelino. The Thunder added to their lead in the fourth — again with two outs — on a two-run homer by Dante Bichette, Jr. off of Trey Ball.
Mike Ford hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to make it a 5-0 Thunder lead.
Ball allowed five earned runs on five hits in 4 1/3 innings, as he walked four and struck out three.
The Sea Dogs got on the board in the bottom of the sixth on a solo homer by Olt off of Justus Sheffield, Olt’s second long ball of the season. Three batters later, Lin homered off of Sheffield into the U.S. Cellular Pavilion to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Sheffield was strong in his outing for Trenton. He allowed two earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking three and striking out five.
The Sea Dogs bullpen was critical in keeping the deficit manageable. Luis Ysla, Austin Maddox and Jamie Callahan combined to hold Trenton to no runs and two hits the final 4 2/3 frames.
Portland hosts Hartford for a three-game series beginning tonight at 6 p.m.
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