The Result
Sea Dogs - 6 to 3

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
20 wins - 27 losses

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

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 3 at-bats - 2 x walks, 1 x strike outs

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - one down
Called strike - curve ball
Called strike - curve ball
Foul ball - "laced" down the leftfield line but foul
Ball - outside
Ball - outside
Foul ball - down the first base line
Called strike - curve ball - "and Roneberg knew it"
Strike out
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - curve ball - low
Ball - fast ball - inside
Called strike - breaking pitch
Ball - fast ball - away
Called strike - curve ball - "on the 'black' and a borderline call"
"Brett hit that one on the screws" and into right-centrefield but the fielder back-pedalled and made the catch
Out F9
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Called strike
Pop-up into foul territory near first base and the fielder had room to make the catch
Out F3
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - none down - and it was the top of the eighth innings and the Sea Dogs were trailing 3 runs to 2!!!
Ball - high
Ball - low
Swing&miss - fast ball
Ball - low and away
Foul ball - back
Foul ball - down the leftfield line
Ball
Walk
Out at second base on a fielder's-choice hit by the next Sea Dogs batter
(but the runner at second base came around and scored the tying run on this hit and a throwing error!!!)
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher - "side-armer"
Bases empty - two down
Foul ball - down the right side
Ball
Foul ball - in the batter's box
Ball - outside
Foul ball - fast ball - in on the hands
Ball - fast ball - inside
Ball - high and inside
Walk
Out at second base on a fielder's-choice hit by the next batter

Heard during the game
(1) As Brett was coming in for his first at-bat, the commentator said that "Roneberg is currently batting 0.293 which is tied for the team lead, is second on the team with seven home runs, and far-and-away leads the team with thirty-one runs driven in"

(2) He mentioned that "at the start of this game Brett is batting 0.318 against righthanders and 0.222 against lefthanded pitchers"

(3) During the bottom of the third innings, a Fisher Cats batter hit a fly ball into right-centrefield - Brett temporarily lost the ball in the lights and then picked it up - by that time the centrefielder Johnson was also tracking the ball and they collided as the catch was made!!! - Brett managed to hang on to the ball and though Johnson tumbled, both players were okay
(the Fisher Cats Field is only a "one-year stadium" and the lights are very low - a new $19 million Stadium is being built)

Email from Brett
N/A

Preview of the Series
No-name Dogs are in town

Nomar’s not coming.
Neither’s Nixon.

Kevin Youkilis, Anastacio Martinez and Andy Dominique - all of whom were in Portland for at least a spell last year - are today toiling in the big leagues with the Boston Red Sox.

So who are these Portland Sea Dogs, coming to Manchester tonight for the first of a four-game weekend series, the first of 20 games against your New Hampshire Fisher Cats this season, and the start of what should be a long and lively rivalry?

They are guys like lefty pitcher Abe Alvarez, 21, who wears his cap cocked a bit to the side and pitched less than 20 innings last year in Single-A Lowell after being drafted in the second round out of Long Beach State.

They are righty Charlie Zink, who pitched in college for Luis Tiant and would like nothing more than to be the next Tim Wakefield.

They are 6-6 first baseman Sean McGowan who once was a rising star in the San Francisco Giants organization.

They are outfielder Eric Johnson, who is back focusing on baseball after a shot at making it with the Chicago Bears as a defensive back.

They are third baseman John Hattig, who more than likely will bring up the airy issue of the inflatable glove with Fisher Cats president and general manager Shawn Smith not long after they meet again this weekend.

They are guys like that.

And Kenny Perez and Brett Roneberg, Chris Smith, Jerome Gamble and Josh Stevens.

It is not a Sea Dog lineup loaded with who are considered the hottest Red Sox prospects.

“I think we have more pitching prospects in our starting rotation than we’ve had in the past,” said Portland president and general manager Charlie Eshbach yesterday.
“We do have some prospects, but they’re not as highly touted as Youkilis and some we’ve had. Not many guys have had books written in which they’re canonized (Youkilis was featured in ‘Moneyball’).”

Zink will start tonight against Fisher Cat lefty Derek Lee.
Gamble goes tomorrow against Cam Reimers, Alvarez Sunday against Francisco Rosario and Smith Monday night at 7:05 against Gustavo Chacin.

Some of the Portland pitching numbers are not pretty.

Zink, in his second year as a knuckleball pitcher, is 1-5 with a 5.06 earned run average.
The Norwich Navigators hit him hard early this month and won a 16-0 game at Portland.

“We were able to make him elevate the baseball and we didn’t chase the ball out of the strike zone,” said Norwich manager Shane Turner, before leaving Gill Stadium Wednesday night.
“My big concern when we faced him was not so much beating him, but would he put us in a funk for a week or so. For most of our kids, it was the first time they’ve seen a knuckleball guy.”

Zink has been, as knuckleballers can be, hot and cold.
In his last start last year, he took a no hitter through eight and two-thirds innings.
He is 1-5 and picked up his first win last week with a 1-0 decision over Harrisburg in which he gave up four hits, struck out nine and walked two in eight innings.
Control has been one of his problems.
He has 36 walks and 30 strikeouts.

Control is a strength of a couple of the Sea Dog starters.
Smith is 3-2 with a 4.25 earned run average and has struck out 55 and walked 11.
Stevens, who was in Triple-A Pawtucket earlier this year, is 2-2 and has struck out 28 and walked one with the Sea Dogs.
Alvarez is 2-3 with a 4.10 earned run average and has struck out 39 and walked 13.

“He’s got nasty stuff,” said Shawn Smith, who watched Alvarez and many of the Dogs as they came through Single A with the Lowell Spinners, the other team owned by Fisher Cats owner Drew Weber.
“He has great command of his pitches. He was very methodical, very focused. It’s a real treat to watch him go to work.”

Smith looks forward to renewing acquaintances with several Spinners, especially Hattig, the only professional player from Guam.
“We called him the ‘Bomb from Guam,’” Smith said. “It rhymed and he hit a lot of bombs for us, too.”
Hattig is hitting .274 and leads the Sea Dogs with 10 home runs.
He had six of them in one week earlier this month when he and Chris Smith, who was 2-0 in his games, swept the Eastern League’s Player of the Week awards.
“He’s always been a good hitter,” Smith said of Hattig.

And long has had a sense of humor, apparently.
Thus the inflatable glove story.
“It was a game years ago and I think the bases were loaded and there were two outs,” Shawn Smith said.
“A pop fly was hit to third and he yelled, ‘I’ve got it, I’ve got it.’
And it drops right in front of him.
We had this big inflatable glove and the next day I inflated it and put it in his locker as a joke.
I knew John was the type who would see it and laugh.
He got a kick out of it.
He’s one of those players who has an infectious smile. You see him jovial and it gets you in a good mood.”

Hattig and the boys of Portland, perhaps one day of Boston, are coming.
They may be 19-26 and bringing up the rear in the Eastern League’s Northern Division, but they represent one of the showcase organizations in the league and in their 10th year are averaging more than 5,500 fans a game at home.

Let Nomar Garciaparra and Trot Nixon rehab elsewhere.
Let Youkilis and his buddies do the big-league thing.

The Dogs are in town.
Let the rivalry begin.

Game Reports

Sox groom knuckler

Right-hander Charlie Zink wears Red Sox colors, throws a knuckleball and plays a mean round of golf in his spare time.
That’s where comparisons with Tim Wakefield start to dwindle.

Boston’s flutterballer has won 120 games in the big leagues, while Zink remains an intriguing Double-A player with the Portland Sea Dogs.

But Zink, who entered last night at 1-5, 5.06 ERA, demonstrated there may eventually be another knuckler with the BoSox.
The 24-year-old blanked the Fisher Cats for five innings, extending his streak of scoreless innings to 12.

At times, the knuckleballer appeared to be pitching against a wind tunnel.
The Fisher Cats could have used a tennis racket to make contact.
New Hampshire’s Mikael Jova fanned twice against Zink, each time flailing at pitches outside the strike zone.

Zink, who took a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, allowed just four hits through five innings, including a solo homer by Justin Singleton.

Zink last season earned a promotion to Double-A Portland and held opposing hitters to a .154 average.

In his best outing at New Haven, Zink came within one out of no-hitting the Ravens.
Who spoiled the no-no? Future Fisher Cat Matt Logan.

In college, Zink pitched for the Savannah School of Art Design under coach Luis Tiant.
It was Red Sox roving pitching coordinator Goose Gregson who first recommended Zink incorporate the knuckleball with his repertoire.
These days, Zink throws mostly knucklers and might occasionally mixes in a 90-mph fastball and average curveball.

“Apparently he threw pretty hard before he converted,” Portland pitching coach Bob Kipper said.
“The beauty of the knuckleball, though, is you don’t have to throw hard. That’s the whole point to what he’s doing.”

Zink entered last night with a strikeout-to-walk ratio (30 K’s, 36 walks) in much need of improvement.
Those 36 walks led the entire Eastern League.

Wakefield, meanwhile, owns a 2-to-1 ratio with 34 strikeouts and just 17 walks - not too shabby for a knuckleballer.

“That pitch is so tough to command because it’s always unpredictable,” said Kipper, who served as the Red Sox bullpen coach in 2002, often working with Wakefield.
“You’ve got to remember - this guy (Zink) converted to a knuckleballer last year.
All of a sudden, people start comparing him to the likes of Tim Wakefield, who’s been doing this for a long, long time.
You think about the number of knuckleballers that have been successful in the big leagues over the last 30 years, and you can’t think of too many.”

Charlie Hough, Phil and Joe Niekro, Tom Candiotti and Steve Sparks are among the rare breed.

Fisher Cats manager Mike Basso said he used to work out with Sparks during the off-season in Texas.
Basso’s message to his players last night?
“Make it be a strike. The numbers suggest he’s having a tough time throwing strikes. We’ve got to be patient,” he said.

Rare late rally lifts Sea Dogs
On the road again, in the win column again.

The Portland Sea Dogs snapped their three-game losing streak Friday night with a rare, come-from-behind 6-3 victory against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats in front of 2,961 at Gill Stadium.

Neither a rain delay of 1 hour, 20 minutes before the game nor playing on artificial turf for the first time (in Game No. 1,461 in their history) could derail the Dogs.

It was their third straight road win and first this season when they trailed after seven innings.
They had been 0-21 in that situation.

The Sea Dogs improved to 20-27.
New Hampshire fell to 26-20.

Jason Howell, in relief of effective knuckleballer Charlie Zink, got the win and is 3-2.

Joe Nelson worked a perfect ninth for his ninth save.

Zink allowed five hits and two earned runs, struck out six and walked two over 6-1/3 innings.

"When Charlie gets it in the strike zone, I could never hit it," Portland Manager Ron Johnson said.
"How do you tell someone to hit it? He did a great job."

Joe Kilburg, who came in hitless in his last 16 at-bats between Pawtucket and Portland, had three of the 10 Sea Dogs' hits, two of them doubles.

Eric Johnson, John Hattig and Mike O'Keefe each had a pair of hits.

"I've been out of rhythm for a while and I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable," said Kilburg, who played with the independent Nashua Pride last year and spent the winter there as well.
He looked quite comfortable.

The Sea Dogs coughed up one lead, then rallied for four runs in the eighth to take it back at 6-3.
Raul Nieves was hit by a Dan Jackson pitch and Brett Roneberg walked to start the eighth.
Sean McGowan struck out and Hattig hit a ball up the middle, than was snared by Jackson, who threw to second for a forceout.
But Aaron Hill threw wildly to first trying to get the double play, allowing Nieves to score to make it 3-3.
After Jeff Bailey walked, O'Keefe and Kilburg ripped back-to-back doubles.
O'Keefe knocked in two runs and Kilburg another.

"They gave us a little window of opportunity with the error, and as hitters we did our job and capitalized on it," Kilburg said.

The Fisher Cats had grabbed the lead with two runs in the seventh.

After Zink gave up a one-out single to Jose Umbria, Johnson hustled out to pull Zink and bring on the left-handed Howell to face left-handed hitting Justin Singleton.
Oops.
Singleton drilled Howell's first pitch over the fence in right, and just like that the Sea Dogs trailed for the first time.

Not a problem, this night at least.

NOTES
Neither shortstop Kenny Perez nor outfielder Sheldon Fulse, both out with hip injuries, played for the Sea Dogs.
Because the team was off Thursday and didn't get a chance for much pregame work as a result of the wet conditions, Johnson said he felt it wiser they stay on the bench.

Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at New Hampshire

Mike O'Keefe knocked in two runs and Jason Howell won his third game of the season as the Portland Sea Dogs beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 6-3 in the Eastern League.

O'Keefe capped off a four-run eighth inning with a two-run double that gave Portland (20-27) the lead for good.

Joe Kilburg went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI, and a run scored for the Sea Dogs.

Howell (3-2) pitched 1-2/3rd innings of relief and allowed one run on one hit, a walk, and struck out one.

Joe Nelson pitched a perfect ninth inning and struck out two to earn his ninth save of the season.

New Hampshire's Dan Jackson fell to 3-6 with the loss.
Jackson was rocked for four runs on two hits and two walks in 2/3rds of an inning pitched.

Justin Singleton went 3-for-4 with two home runs and three RBI for New Hampshire (26-20).