MANCHESTER, New Hampshire — Jason Leblebijian snapped a 3-3 tie with a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, giving the New Hampshire Fisher Cats a 4-3 Eastern League baseball win over the Portland Sea Dogs Monday at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.
Portland had some early fireworks, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out homer by Nate Freiman. Freiman, who leads the team in homers (8) and RBIs (31), smacked a 2-2 pitch over the left-center field wall off starter Luis Santos.
Portland’s Mitch Atkins worked a quality start in a no-decision, yielding three runs on seven hits over six innings.
Leblebijian put the Fisher Cats on the board with an RBI single in the third. Shane Opitz hit a two-out, two-run home run in the fourth for a 3-2 lead.
Portland’s Jake Romanski tied the game in the seventh with a run-scoring double. Matt Dermody relieved Santos with one out and retired all five batters, earning his second win on his 26th birthday.
Chris Smith pitched a perfect ninth for his third save of the year.
Portland has lost seven straight on July 4th, and has lost all four in New Hampshire this season.
Portland’s Yoan Moncada extended his hitting streak to five games with a single to lead off the game and Andrew Benintendi flied out as a pinch hitter in the ninth.