Cats slip by struggling Sea Dogs

Portland 3 at New Britain 4

W: A. Gabino (4-4, 3.16); L: M. James (2-3, 4.33); SV: B. Julianel (19)
HR: None.

The New Britain Rock Cats squeaked by the Portland Seadogs 4-3 with a late inning rally at New Britain Stadium.

Danny Valencia and Erik Lis took back-to-back singles in the bottom of the 4th which turned into a pair of runs when David Winfree tripled them.

Anthony Swarzak worked five good innings but found some trouble in the sixth. He'd get the first two outs but allowed a single to Sandy Madera and a double to John Otness that put one on the board for the Dogs. Jorge Jimenez then tripled to bring in Otness. Iggy Suarez singled to plate Jimenez before Ryan Mullins was brought in to get the last out. Swarzak's final line was 3 runs, earned, on 8 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3 in 5.2 innings.

Lis doubled in the bottom of the 7th to start out the rally. Following a strike outs to Winfree and Felix Molina, Toby Gardenhire singled out to left to drive in Lis. He'd advance on a fielding error, but a pitching change, with Michael James replacing Kris Johnson on the mound, left him stranded as James got Drew Butera to strike out to end the inning.

Dustin Martin singled off James in the bottom of the 8th and moved to second on Matt Moses' sac-bunt. Brock Peterson then doubled him in for the game winning run.

Ben Julianel worked the 9th inning, striking out one for this 19th save of the season.

Valencia and Lis were both 2-for-4 in the contest, Valencia with a run and Lis with a double and a pair of runs.

Martin and Peterson were both 1-for-4, Martin with a run, Peterson with a double and a run scored. Winfree, Molina and Gardenhire all finished up 1-for-3, Winfree with a triple and a pair of RBIs, Molina with a double, and Gardenhire with a run scored.

The two teams rematch Saturday night for a pair, playing a previously rained out game. First pitch is set for 5:35 PM. Zach Ward (2-5, 3.45) will take the start in the first game against Portland's Kyle Jackson (5-1, 4.84). Game two starts approximately 1/2 hour after the conclusion of game 1.

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Rochester 1 at Durham 2

W: M. Talbot (8-7, 4.64); L: J. DePaula (1-4, 5.80); SV: S. Dohmann (10)
HR: ROC: R. Ruiz (13).

Julio Depaula gave up 2 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks in 3.2 innings while striking out three, taking the loss for the largely offense less Rochester Red Wings.

Mitch Talbot scattered 5 hits over 6.2 innings, allowing only one Red Wing home run, to Randy Ruiz who tied the Red Wings franchise record with a 20 game hitting streak.

It was the only run for the Ruiz, but it was the only one that counted, coming in the 7th inning with one out and no one on.

Jon Weber doubled for Durham in the bottom of the 1st, then came home on Dan Johnson's ground out. Depaula walked Nathan Haynes and Andy Cannizaro in the 4th, and got Mike DiFelice out on strikes before Mariano Gomez came into replace DePaula. Gomez gave up a single to Fernando Perez that scored Nathan Haynes for the game winning run.

Omir Santos of Norfolk had a 21 game streak going earlier this season, so Ruiz will try to match that as the Wings take on the Bulls again Saturday night for a 7:05 PM game. Jeff Niemann (6-3, 3.82) will take the start for Durham against Rochester's Danny Graves (3-3, 5.06).

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N&O