TRENTON, New Jersey — Eric Ruth fired seven strong innings and his offense collected 12 hits, defeating the Portland Sea Dogs 8-1 in Double-A action Saturday night at Arm & Hammer Park.
Trenton scored four unearned runs off Mike Augliera in the second inning. Dante Bichette reached on an error by third baseman Jonathan Roof, scoring the first run of the game. Following the error, the Thunder hit four straight singles, receiving RBIs from Cito Culver, Jake Cave and Ali Castillo.
The Thunder extended their lead to 6-0 in the fourth inning on a two-run homer by Aaron Judge — his eighth of the season. Augliera (2-8) suffered the loss for Portland, lasting four innings on eight hits, six runs (two earned) with one walk and six strikeouts.
Portland got on the board in the seventh inning with two outs off Ruth. Aneury Tavarez drew a walk and scored on a double by Blake Tekotte. Ruth (3-0) worked seven innings, giving up five hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts to earn the win.
Trenton scored two in the seventh inning off Kyle Kraus when Danny Oh delivered a two-run single. Portland cut the lead to 8-2 in the eighth on a sacrifice fly by Jantzen Witte (team-leading 35th RBI).
Portland’s Marco Hernandez continued his hot hitting, with a single and double. Tekotte (2-for-2) is now 6-for-10 in the series. Robby Scott worked a perfect eighth and hasn’t allowed a run in his last five outings.
The Sea Dogs and Thunder have split their first two games and conclude their three-game weekend series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Portland sends Joe Gunkel (2-0, 4.05) to the hill against Trenton’s Brady Lail (2-2, 2.88)