PORTLAND, Maine — The Portland Sea Dogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning en route to an 8-5 Eastern League baseball victory over Hartford in their home opener Thursday night at Hadlock Field.
Kevin McAvoy (2-0) earned the win in his home debut for Portland (4-4), allowing two earned runs on just three hits in 5 ⅔ innings, walking one and striking out five.
With two Sea Dogs on base and one out in the first inning, Rainel Rosario (three hits, RBI) doubled off of Yard Goats’ starter Antonio Senzatela (L, 1-1) to put Portland on the board.
After Henry Ramos popped out, Jake Romanski delivered a two-out, two-run single to give the Sea Dogs the 3-0 lead.
Senzatela would leave in the third inning with an apparent injury and was replaced by Carlos Hernandez. The Sea Dogs doubled their lead in the fourth inning off of Hernandez with an RBI groundout from Romanski, an RBI double by Tim Roberson and an RBI single from Jose Vinicio.
The Sea Dogs added two more runs in the fifth inning off of Hernandez on an RBI double by Jantzen and an RBI single by Romanski.
The Yard Goats (5-3) made it interesting in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs off Luis Ysla, highlighted by a two-run home run by David Dahl, his league-leading fifth of the season.