MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Roemon Fields connected for a bases-loaded, walk-off single with one out in the 11th inning off of Madison Younginer and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats sent the Portland Sea Dogs to their seventh-straight loss, 5-4 Saturday night in Eastern League action.
The Sea Dogs led 2-0 in the eighth and 4-2 in the ninth, but couldn’t hold on as Robby Scott and Younginer each blew saves. With the bases loaded and one out in the eighth, NH’s Jon Berti hit a hard grounder past Tzu-Wei Lin — who was charged with an error — to allow two runs to score and tie the game at two.
After a leadoff single by Portland’s Blake Swihart in the ninth, Sam Travis homered to left field off of Scott Barnes for his first career Double-A home run, giving the Sea Dogs a 4-2 lead in the ninth.
But the Cats answered in the bottom of the ninth on a one-out, two-run double by Shane Opitz off of Younginer to tie the game up at four. The game remained tied until Fields’ walk-off single in the 11th.
Portland’s Luis Diaz posted his best start of the season, working seven scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while walking two and striking out three. Diaz has now thrown a quality start in five of his last six games.
Jeff Hoffman made his Double-A debut for the Fisher Cats. The No. 3 rated prospect in the Blue Jays system by Baseball America allowed two earned runs on five hits in 6 ⅓ innings, with no walks and three strikeouts. Danny Barnes (3-2) earned the win in relief, working a scoreless 10th and 11th inning and stranding four Sea Dogs’ baserunners over two frames.
Red Sox catcher Swihart continued his rehab assignment and started the game for Portland. He went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored. He also caught for nine innings.