In the end, the Portland Sea Dogs’ pitching gave it up again.

The New Hampshire Fisher Cats jumped on Portland pitching for 13 hits, including four home runs, to beat the Sea Dogs 11-4 in the final game of the season Monday afternoon before a crowd of 7,225 at Hadlock Field.

The Sea Dogs finished at 65-74, good for fourth place in the Eastern League East Division. Last-place New Hampshire finished 59-80.

Playing in the old-time Portland Eskimos uniforms, a nod to Field of Dreams day at Hadlock, the Sea Dogs were led by Cole Sturgeon. He drove in three runs with a two-run homer, an RBI double and a single.

Michael Chavis also homered for the Sea Dogs.

But the offense could not keep up. It reflected the year as the Sea Dogs featured the second-best batting average in the league (.264), but the worst ERA (4.62).

“They play hard. But to win games, you need more than offense” Sea Dogs Manager Carlos Febles said.

Still, this was Portland’s best season in three years.

“Good season overall,” Febles said. “I don’t think the record described the type of season we had. Eighty-five percent of the guys improved and we had guys who are playing in the big leagues who started here. To me, that’s our season.”

Among those who improved was Sturgeon. He batted .264 for the year, but finished on a tear, hitting .318 with six home runs over the last 56 games.

“I struggled for two months, but it’s better to finish strong,” Sturgeon said.

After Sunday’s rained-out game, the Sea Dogs went with back-to-back starters. Kevin McAvoy (6-9) gave up four runs (two earned) over five innings to take the loss.

Teddy Stankiewicz lasted 21/3 innings, giving up five runs on a walk and four hits, including home runs by Matt Dean and Gunnar Heidt.

Dean also homered off reliever Trevor Kelley.

Sea Dogs catcher Danny Bethea pitched with two outs in the ninth and allowed a home run by Lourdes Gurriel.

Bethea, whose first pitch was 94 mph, wanted to give pitching a try. Febles, with approval from the Red Sox minor league staff, agreed.

Danny Mars went 1 for 3 with two walks. He finished with a team-leading .304 average, ranking him fifth in the Eastern League.

NOTES: Jeremy Barfield was named the team’s MVP in a brief ceremony before the game. Barfield, who was promoted to Triple-A on Saturday, led the Sea Dogs with 27 home runs and a .943 OPS. He batted .288 … Other award winners were Bobby Poyner (Pitcher of the Year, with a 0.94 ERA in 27 relief appearances); Sturgeon (10th Player Award, who produced offensively while playing superb outfield defense); and McAvoy (Citizen of the Year for his volunteer work) … Febles will join the Red Sox staff briefly during Boston’s current homestand, and then work with the team’s advance scouting staff … The four-team Eastern League playoffs begin this week with Binghamton playing Trenton, and Altoona facing Bowie.

Kevin Thomas can be reached at 791-7411 or:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: @ClearTheBases

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