The Result
Rock Cats - 7 to 4

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
13 wins - 19 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing rightfield
Batting #3

At the end of the Game
2 hits from 4 at-bats - 2 x singles, 1 x RBI, 1 x run scored, 1 x walk, 1 x GIDP

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - "pitch out but the runner wasn't going anywhere"
Called strike - fast ball - outside corner
Line drive into leftfield for a base hit
Single
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - one down
First pitch hitting, and a line drive into leftfield - hit straight at the fielder and the runner could only advance to third base
Single
Scored on a home run
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - "a little bit inside at the knees"
Swing&miss - "a big swing at an off-speed breaking ball and he may have been looking for a fast ball there"
Foul ball - "off the fists" and back to the screen
High pop-up into shallow rightfield and the second-baseman went back to make the catch
Out F4
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
The bases are loaded!!! - two down
Swing&miss - low and he checked his swing but went around too far
Ball - high and away
Foul ball - the pitch was high and out of the zone and fouled off behind the screen - "...and that should have been ball-three"
Ball - inside and low
Foul ball - down the third base side
Ball - low - "just missed"
Ball - "check swing and an appeal was made but there was no way Brett went around"
Walk
......and 1 x RBI
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runners at first and second base - one down
It was the bottom of the eighth innings and the Sea Dogs were trailing 4 runs to 6 which made Brett the go-ahead run!!!
First pitch hitting and drove the ball back up the middle "and off the bat that looked like a base hit but the shortstop was fielding close to second base and was able to tag second and throw on to first for a 'rally-killing' double play"
Out 6-unassisted-to-3 double play

Heard during the game
(1) During the top of the first innings a Rock cats batter hit a 'sinking' line drive into rightfield - Brett chased it down and the commentator said that "Roneberg made a good effort to get the catch, and dived full length but the ball appeared to hit him on the wrist or the heel of the glove and got passed him and the batter picked up a bloop-double" (no error on the play)

(2) After his hit in his first at-bat, the commentator said "...and with that hit Brett has extended his League leading hitting streak to sixteen games and is now just five games behind the Sea Dogs franchise record of twenty-one games"

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports

Total up the chances and they add to a loss

Sheldon Fulse wasn't fooling anybody.
With two on and the Sea Dogs trailing by two, Fulse bunted them into scoring position.
But instead of sacrificing himself, he beat out his well-placed bunt to load the bases with nobody out and the top of Portland's order coming up.

"Anytime a team sacrifice bunts and you don't get an out, you're leaving yourself open to a big inning," said Stan Cliburn, manager of the visiting New Britain Rock Cats.

The Sea Dogs failed to capitalize because New Britain reliever Victor Moreno struck out the next two batters and the Rock Cats left Hadlock Field with a series-clinching 7-4 victory Thursday night before a crowd announced at 4,367.

New Britain (15-16) took 2 of 3 from the Sea Dogs (13-19), who remain in the EL North cellar despite having won or tied their previous four series.

The Sea Dogs outhit New Britain 11-8 and reached base eight times on walks and another time with a hit batter but stranded a season-high 13.

"We had some opportunities to score a lot of runs," said Sea Dogs Manager Ron Johnson, whose club brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, "but in situational at-bats, we kind of scuffled."

The Rock Cats never trailed after batting around in the first and opening a 4-0 lead against Jerome Gamble (1-2).
The first four Rock Cats reached on three hits and a walk.
It was 2-0 before Gamble got an out and 4-0 after B.J. Garbe's RBI single.
New Britain was helped by the muff of a potential double-play grounder, a throw that struck a base stealer and a shallow fly that glanced off the glove of diving Sea Dogs outfielder Brett Roneberg, resulting in a run-scoring double.

Even so, Gamble kept the Sea Dogs in the game by allowing one hit over his final four innings.

"I was real pleased with the way Gamble settled down," Johnson said.
"His stuff looked real good. This young man's got a tremendous amount of ability."

In the Portland third, John Hattig hit a three-run homer into the teeth of a stiff breeze blowing in from right, clearing the back wall of the Sea Dogs' bullpen.
It was Hattig's ninth home run of the season, all in his last 15 games.

"That ball was crushed," Johnson said.
"He's got some serious life in his bat."

The Sea Dogs had chances to tie or go ahead by loading the bases in the fifth and sixth, but came away with only one run: when Roneberg walked to force in a run and make it 5-4.

The sixth was particularly frustrating for the Sea Dogs because the bottom of the order loaded the bases with none out but came away with only one run.

Kenny Perez and Fulse, batting eighth and ninth, combined for five of Portland's 11 hits.

NOTES
The Sea Dogs will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. today with Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein and the farm director, Ben Cherington.
The player development contract between the Red Sox and Sea Dogs is set to expire at the end of this season, so an extension announcement may be in the offing.
Roneberg hit a pair of opposite-field singles to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, the most for a Sea Dog since Kevin Hooper in 2001.
The club record is 21 set by Kevin Millar in 1997 and matched by Victor Rodriguez a year later.
Jeff Bailey extended a streak, reaching for the 21st consecutive game he started.
He went 0 for 1 but got hit by a pitch and walked three times.
Millar and Kevin Youkilis each reached in 71 consecutive games, streaks that started with the Sea Dogs and ended elsewhere.

NEW BRITAIN WINS SERIES, BEATS PORTLAND 7-4
Sea Dogs Strand 13 in Second Straight Loss

The New Britain Rock Cats batted around in a four-run first inning and never trailed in handing the Portland Sea Dogs a 7-4 loss on Thursday night.

The Sea Dogs stranded 13 runners, including 10 runners in the final five innings and five runners at third base.

Jerome Gamble (1-2) allowed four runs in the first inning on four hits and two walks.
He settled down to retire 13 of the final 16 batters he faced.

John Hattig hit his ninth home run of the season, a three-run home run in the third frame.

Brett Roneberg singled twice to extend his hit streak to 16 games.

The Sea Dogs begin a three-game series with the Reading Phillies Friday night, with top pitching prospects Abe Alvarez and Gavin Floyd squaring off.

Eastern League Game Summary - New Britain at Portland

BJ Garbe was 2-for-3 with two RBI, as the New Britain Rock Cats topped the Portland Sea Dogs, 7-4.

New Britain (15-16) has won two in a row, while the Sea Dogs have lost back-to-back contests.

Garbe singled in a run during a four-run first inning, as New Britain grabbed the early lead and never looked back.

Portland got three runs back in the third inning, courtesy of a three-run homer by John Hattig, his ninth of the season.

Garbe added an insurance run with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning.

Luis Maza was 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles, an RBI and a run scored for New Britain.

Kenny Perez had three hits for Portland.

Rock Cats' starter Henry Bonilla (3-3) went five innings of eight-hit, three- run ball to earn the win.
He walked two and fanned three.

Beau Kemp notched his first save of the season.

Jerome Gamble (1-2) was touched for five hits, four walks and four runs over five frames and absorbed the loss for Portland.

Rock Cats end road trip with a win

B.J. Garbe doubled, scored a run and drove in two as the New Britain Rock Cats defeated the Portland Sea Dogs 7-4 Thursday in the Eastern League.

John Hattig belted a three-run homer for the Sea Dogs and Kenny Perez went 3-for-5.

Doubles by Luis Maza and Kevin West plus Garbe’s RBI single were the key hits as the Rock Cats (15-16) grabbed a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

The Sea Dogs (13-19) narrowed the deficit to one on Hattig’s homer, a colossal blow over the right-field fence in the third inning.

New Britain scored solo runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings - Garbe doubled and scored in the sixth and his sacrifice fly drove in the final run of the game.

Brett Roneberg drew a bases-loaded walk as Portland picked up one run in the sixth.

New Britain starter Henry Bonilla evened his record at 3-3 with the win, while Portland’s Jerome Gamble dropped to 1-2.