NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — Bryce Brentz belted two home runs to lead the Portland Sea Dogs to a 7-2 Eastern League victory and three-game sweep of the New Britain Rock Cats on Wednesday.
The Sea Dogs are just 4.5 games behind New Britain and the Reading Phillies in a battle for the final Eastern Division playoff spot. Portland is 27-12 since the All-Star break.
Stolmy Pimentel (5-6) earned his first road win of the season, going six innings on two runs, three hits and four strikeouts.
The Sea Dogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Jeremy Hazelbaker singled to open the game, stole second, move to third on a single by Ryan Dent and scored on a double by Brentz.
Xander Bogaerts ripped a two-run single to complete the early uprising.
Josmil Pinto homered for the Rock Cats in the fourth inning to bring the hosts to within one run, 3-2.
A home run by Brentz made it 4-2 in the fifth, and a three-run seventh, highlighted by a two-run home run by Brentz, completed the scoring.
The Sea Dogs return to Hadlock Field tonight to open a four-game set against the Binghamton Mets. First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less