PORTLAND, MAINE – A bad start would be too much for the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to overcome on Saturday afternoon as they fell 5-1 to the Portland Sea Dogs.
Portland scored in the contest’s first three innings of New Hampshire starting pitcher Maximo Castillo, who didn’t last into the fourth.
New Hampshire’s bullpen allowed just two more hits over the rest of the contest, but New Hampshire’s bats couldn’t meet the challenge. Demi Orimoloye’s single and Chavez Young’s double in the fourth broke up what had been a streak of ten straight retired Fisher Cat batters.
Only in the seventh could the visitors get on the board, as Vinny Capra’s first double of the year brought Chris Bec home and Kevin Vicuña to third. Vicuña would be stranded on third, with the ‘Cats stranding batters again in the eighth and ninth to close the contest.
Castillo (0-1), gave up seven hits and a walk during his three-inning appearance, with three of the five runs earned on his watch. Mike Ellenbest, Brody Rodening and Curtis Taylor combined to strike out eight Sea Dog batters over five innings of scoreless relief.
Denyi Reyes (1-0) was the winner, striking out five in four innings of relief.
Saturday’s win sealed the seasoning opening series, which concludes with Sunday’s game at Hadlock Field, slated to start at 1 p.m. Zach Logue (1-0, 0.00 ERA) is the scheduled started for New Hampshire, no starter has been announced yet for Portland.
The Fisher Cats will take Monday off before their home opener at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday against the Somerset Patriots.