BINGHAMTON, New York — Portland Sea Dogs right-handed pitcher Luis Diaz was winless in his last 24 starts, but that changed on Monday night when the Portland Sea Dogs beat the Binghamton Mets 5-4 and took two of three in the Eastern League series.
The Sea Dogs won their first series since taking two of three in Binghamton on May 26-28, ending a drought of 10 straight series losses.
Diaz (1-7) last won on July 5, 2014 at New Britain. He gave up 10 hits over six-plus innings with two earned runs, no walks and four strikeouts.
Robby Scott allowed a run over two innings, but earned his second hold of the season and John Cornely pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save of the season.
B-Mets righty Robert Gsellman (2-5) took the loss, giving up five runs on nine hits in six innings.
The Sea Dogs scored first for the third straight game in the series, taking a 1-0 lead in the first. Marco Hernandez led off with a triple and scored on a groundout by Reed Gragnani.
Binghamton tied it at one with an unearned run in the second inning. Brock Peterson reached on an error by third baseman Carlos Asuaje to start the frame and scored on a single by Josh Rodriguez.
Portland snapped the tie in the fourth inning, scoring three times to take a 4-1 lead. Manuel Margot and Jake Romanski had RBI singles, and Cole Sturgeon provided a sacrifice fly.
The B-Mets responded in their fourth, receiving a two-run homer by Dustin Lawley, cutting Portland’s lead to 4-3.
In the sixth, Romanski hit a two-out homer, his first in Double-A, over the left-field wall, giving Portland a 5-3 lead.
Binghamton had a huge a chance in the seventh, knocking Diaz out of the game after consecutive singles. Scott retired the next three batters, keeping Portland in front 5-3.
In the bottom of the eighth, Lawley struck again, nailing an RBI double, cutting the Portland lead to 5-4. Scott retired pinch-hitter Aderlin Rodriguez to keep it a one-run game.