While the Boston Red Sox have had their way with the New York Yankees at Fenway Park, the same could not be said about Boston’s Double-A affiliate at Hadlock Field.
Before Sunday, the Portland Sea Dogs had lost four straight games to the Somerset Patriots, the new Double-A partner of the Yankees.
But that changed Sunday afternoon before a humidity-soaked crowd of 6,410, as Portland earned a 5-1 win.
Extra-base hits played a role in every Sea Dogs run.
Jeisson Rosario doubled to lead off the first inning. He stole second and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Tristan Casas.
Ryan Fitzgerald tripled off the left-field wall in the fifth and scored on a wild pitch.
In the sixth, after a Casas single, Pedro Castellanos and Hudson Potts clocked back-to-back homers for a 5-0 lead against Yankees prospect Glenn Otto (4-2). Otto, ranked as the Yankees’ 12th-best pitching prospect by MLB.com, allowed more runs Sunday than Portland scored the previous two games.
“The last two nights, we ran into some pretty good arms. Today was good to get out in front, finally,” said Chad Epperson, the Red Sox catching instructor who filled in for Corey Wimberly while the Sea Dogs manager is away on family business.
Otto, who mixes a fastball with a deadly curve, is one of the minor league leaders in strikeouts with 83, including nine on Sunday.
Sea Dogs starter Enmanuel De Jesus allowed three hits over 3 2/3 scoreless innings, striking out four. De Jesus was on a strict pitch count after starting on Wednesday, when he allowed six earned runs over 2 1/3 innings. De Jesus worked his own fastball/curve combo to stifle Somerset.
“On short rest, he gave us more length than we thought he could,” Epperson said.
Reliever Zack Kelly (2-1) followed with another chapter of his comeback story, throwing two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.48.
Kelly, who has not allowed an earned run since May 16, was not drafted out of college in 2017. He has been released by the A’s, Angels and Rays, and joined the Red Sox in January.
“I don’t know too much about where he’s been, but he’s in a good place right now,” Epperson said.
Dominic LoBrutto allowed one run over two innings, and Jose Adames closed it with 1 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out two. Adames, with a 2.37 ERA, has used his 97-99 mph fastball to strike out 26 in 19 innings.
Casas went 1 for 3, upping his average to .266, with 22 RBI.
Castellanos, who has 21 RBI, sent his seventh home run of the season to center field (409 feet, 100 mph off the bat). Potts hit his second home run for Portland since joining the team on June 10. His blast over the left-field wall traveled an estimated 405 feet and was measured at 97 mph off the bat.
The Sea Dogs (26-21) are five games behind first-place Somerset (31-16) in the Northeast Division.
Portland plays in New Hampshire this week, then returns to Hadlock Field on July 6 for a six-game series against Hartford.
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