In seven of the nine innings Tuesday night at Hadlock Field, the Hartford Yard Goats failed to send more than three batters to the plate.

The two innings the Yard Goats did string together baserunners, though, made all the difference. Hartford scored twice in the top of the fourth inning and three more runs in the top of the sixth to take a 5-3 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in front of 4,037 fans.

Hartford took the lead for good in the sixth. Hitting ninth, second baseman Isaac Collins led off the inning with a 441-foot home run to right-center field, his first homer of the season, for a 3-2 lead. After Daniel Montano doubled and Ezequiel Tover reached on a bunt single, both scored on Jimmy Herron’s triple to center field.

Making his second start for the Sea Dogs, Brett Kennedy was perfect for three innings before Montano led off the top of the fourth with a double off the left-field wall. Tovar, the No. 6 prospect in the Rockies’ farm system, followed with a two-run home run, his 12th, down the right-field line to give the Yard Goats a 2-1 lead.

Kennedy went six innings, striking out two and walking none. Signed by the Red Sox on May 25 from the independent league Long Island Ducks, Kennedy made six starts in the majors for the San Diego Padres in 2018.

“Just a couple balls that were left up in the zone,” Portland Manager Chad Epperson said of Kennedy’s sixth-inning struggles. “He threw the ball very well for us. He gave us a chance. He knows what he’s doing. The wind was blowing pretty good and you leave some pitches up toward the end of your start, but he put us in a good spot.”

Portland tied the game in the bottom of the inning when Christian Koss led off with a home run over the left-field wall, but the Sea Dogs squandered a chance to take the lead. With one out, Tyler Dearden doubled, Elih Marrero singled and David Hamilton walked to load the bases. Newcomer Ceddanne Rafaela hit into a double play to end the threat.

Rafaela went 0 for 4 in his Sea Dogs debut after getting called up from High-A Greenville, and started in center field and hit second. In Greenville, Rafaela, 21, hit .330 with nine home runs, 17 doubles, and 36 RBI in 45 games.

“We’re getting traffic on there. Now we just need the big hit. We’ll keep working at it,” Epperson said.

Portland took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Kole Cottam singled to score Pedro Castellanos. In the eighth inning, Cottam singled again to score Castellanos, who led off the inning with a double, cutting Hartford’s lead to 5-3.

Castellanos had three hits for Portland, and Dearden had a pair.

Trent Fennell pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Hartford starter Matt Baird for his first win of the season. PJ Poulin threw a perfect ninth inning for his fifth save.

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