BINGHAMTON, New York — The Portland Sea Dogs scored five runs in the seventh inning for the second straight game and held on for an 8-5 Eastern League win over the Binghamton Mets on Tuesday night at NYSEG Stadium in the opener of a three-game set.
Portland (20-26) has won four straight road games, improving to 10-9 away from Hadlock Field. The Sea Dogs scored their runs in just two innings.
Right-hander Joe Gunkel (2-0) worked 5-plus innings, giving up 9 hits, 2 runs, one walk and striking out three. B-Mets righty Gabriel Ynoa (2-3) suffered the loss on his 22nd birthday. Ynoa yielded 7 hits and 5 runs over 6⅓ innings.
Pat Light worked the final 1.1 innings, earning his second Double-A save. Light has not allowed an earned run in 13 of 16 outings. The righty put two on in the ninth inning, but the ‘Dogs turned a 5-4-3 double play to end the game. Portland turned a season-high 3 double plays.
Jantzen Witte went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, picking up his team-leading 10th multi-RBI game. Blake Tekotte finished with 2 RBI, adding a solo homer and a run-scoring single.
The Sea Dogs couldn’t figure out Ynoa until the third inning. With one out, Jonathan Roof and Tekotte hit back-to-back homers and Witte delivered a two-out RBI single, giving Portland a 3-0 lead.
Binghamton (24-21) would knock Gunkel out of the game in the sixth inning, scoring two runs, and cutting the deficit to 3-2. Josh Rodriguez led off with a solo homer to left field. Kraus relieved Gunkel with nobody out, but allowed a run-scoring double to Aderlin Rodriguez, who also hit a two-run homer off of Kraus in the eighth inning.
Portland would respond in the seventh inning, sending 10 men to the plate, scoring 5 runs to take an 8-2 lead. Tekotte, Carlos Asuaje and Keury De La Cruz had RBI singles. Witte nailed a two-run double.
The Sea Dogs scored in just two innings and had their 12 hits sprinkled over four frames. Vic Black pitched a scoreless eighth and Bobby Parnell allowed a walk during a scoreless ninth for Binghamton.
The Sea Dogs and Binghamton Mets play game two of their series on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.