The Result
Navigators - 8 to 6

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
46 wins - 50 losses

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

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 4 at-bats - 1 x strike out

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - low and away
Called strike - on the outside corner
Ball - breaking ball - down and away
"And that pitch is driven in left-centrefield ...... well hit into the alley but out on an outstanding play by the Navigators leftfielder ...... robbed Roneberg of an extra-base hit ...... a tremendous play to end the innings"
Out F7
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led of the innings
Called strike
Foul ball - down the leftfield line
"Hit down the first base line and fielded by the first-baseman who takes it to the bag himself to make the first out of the innings"
Out PO3
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Called strike - "right down the middle"
Ball - breaking ball - "a little bit high"
Foul ball - off to the left
Foul ball
"Line drive into leftfield but the fielder is there to make the catch"
Out F7
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - none down - and the Sea Dogs are trailing 6 runs to 8 in the top of the eighth innings - "Roneberg needs to break out of this slump right now"
Ball - inside - "almost hit him"
Foul ball - "Roneberg swung at a high breaking pitch and fouled it back to the screen"
Ball - low and in
Called strike - "a breaking ball that was high in the zone"
Swing&miss - "Roneberg swung over the top of that pitch"
Strike out

Heard during the game
N/A

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports

Veteran slugger decks Dogs

Some guys just have a knack for beating up the Portland Sea Dogs.
You can put Norwich Navigator third baseman Michael Cervenak at the top of that list.

Cervenak cemented his standing as a "Dog Killer" by blasting a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning Monday night to hand Portland an 8-6 setback before 1,808 fans at Dodd Stadium.

Cervenak's homer, his 16th of the season, came off reliever James Johnson (0-2) and was the crowning blow of a stellar performance.
He went 3 for 4 with five RBI.

Cervenak, a sixth-year pro from suburban Detroit, has had his way with Sea Dog pitching all year.
He raised his season's average to .344 and is hitting .609 (14 for 23, with five walks) against the Dogs, while driving in nine runs.

Cervenak, who is spending his fourth year in Norwich, says it's nothing personal.
"I can't explain it whatsoever," he said.
"It's just one of those things where luck is on my side some of the time."

"He's been a thorn in my side for three years," said Sea Dogs Manager Ron Johnson, who managed at Trenton before coming to Portland.
"You tip your hat to him.
I almost feel for the kid because I've seen him do these things, and for some reason, the poor kid can't get out of this level."

The Sea Dogs would no doubt be happy to buy Cervenak a plane ticket to Fresno, home of the San Francisco Giants' Triple-A club, just to get him out of their hair.

Cervenak got Norwich off to a good start, clubbing a two-run double in the bottom of the first off Portland starter Ryan Cameron.

Cameron settled down, though, and retired the next 10 Navigators through the fourth inning.

Meanwhile, his teammates did enough damage to hand him a 5-3 lead.

Mike O'Keefe, who has a history of success at Dodd Stadium, slugged a two-run homer in the second, his 13th of the season, off Norwich starter Josh Habel.

Two innings later, Stefan Bailie, just up from Class A Sarasota, sent a three-run blast over the left-field wall.
It was his first homer since joining Portland last Saturday.

But Cameron's good fortune ran out in the fifth, when Norwich scored twice to knot the score at 5.

Johnson took over and got through the sixth.

But he gave up a single and a walk in the seventh, and Cervenak caught up with a fastball to give the Navigators an 8-5 lead.

"I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball," said Cervenak, "and whatever happened, happened."

Cervenak Powers Gators
Third Baseman Keys Win With 3-run HR In Seventh Inning

Mike Cervenak's three-run homer in the seventh inning broke a 5-all tie and lifted the Norwich Navigators to an 8-6 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in an Eastern League game played before 1,808 at Dodd Stadium Tuesday night.

The third baseman finished with three hits and five RBI and now has seven hits in the first two games of the series against Portland.

The four-game series continues today today with a game at 7:05 p.m. and wraps up Thursday with another 7:05 p.m start.
The two teams then head to Portland for a three-game set over the weekend.

Norwich (50-44) moved to within four games of first-place Binghamton in the Northern Division race, but trails second-place New Hampshire by three games for the final playoff spot.
The Fisher Cats beat the Mets 2-0 on Tuesday.

Matt Palmer (3-6) came out of the bullpen to win his second game in three days for the Navigators, who got back on the track after having a three-game win streak halted by the Sea Dogs on Monday.
Palmer allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts in 1-2/3 innings.

Alberto Montes pitched a perfect ninth for his 13th save.

Norwich starter Josh Habel went 6-1/3 innings.
He allowed seven hits and five earned runs while striking out two and walking one.

James Johnson (0-2) suffered the loss in relief, allowing three runs on two hits in three innings.

Stefan Bailie and Mike O'Keefe hit homers in the game for Portland (46-50).

Navs slugger on an offensive tear

Mike Cervenak's performance the past couple of nights begs the question - why is he still in Double A?

Since coming off the disabled list July 9, the Norwich Navigators' third baseman/first baseman has been a hitting machine.
Entering Tuesday's game against Portland, Cervenak was hitting an even .500 (15-for-30) over an eight-game stretch, including a four-hit game against the Sea Dogs Monday.

But those hits paled in comparison to the ball he hit in the seventh inning Tuesday.
Cervenak broke a 5-5 tie with one swing, a three run-homer to leftfield off James Johnson to lift the Navigators to an eventual 8-6 win over Portland.

The win gave Norwich its 50th win of the year against 44 losses.

"When he came back, the only statement I made was you have one of two choices," Norwich manager Shane Turner said, "don't accept it (still being in Double) and you quit, or show what you're made of and play even better to make people make the decision that you want them to."

And Cervenak has done the latter.

When Cervenak returned to Norwich following the All-Star break last week, he said the time off helped him because it was getting to the point in the year when his body was breaking down a bit.

Maybe he should think about taking a month off every year.

"It's just one of those things," said Cervenak about his recent streak.
"I've played a lot of baseball in my life and you're going to go through bad runs and good runs and I'm on a good run right now.
You definitely enjoy it while it lasts because you know struggles will come in the future some time."

After Norwich made it 3-0 in the first on Cervenak's two-run double and Chris Curry's single, Portland starter Ryan Cameron retired the next 10 batters he faced and made some of the Navigators' hitters look bad in the process on four strikeouts.

While Cameron was shutting down Norwich, the Sea Dogs used the long ball to put up five runs in two innings off starter Josh Habel.

Mike O'Keefe started the heavy lifting with one out in the second when he hooked a ball around the right field foul pole with a runner on to cut Norwich's lead down to 3-2.

Then in the fourth, Stefan Bailie hit a three-run blast over the digital clock in left center field to give Portland a 5-3 lead.

Norwich tied the score at 5-5 in the fifth on Bryan Carter's RBI double and a 4-6-3 double play by Carlos Valderrama.

Habel went back out for the seventh for one out and then Turner brought in Matt Palmer to finish the inning.

Palmer (3-6) put runners on first and second to begin the eighth, retired the next three batters on two strikeouts and a pop out to Cervenak at third.

It was Palmer's second win in three days.

LATE HOME RUN COSTS PORTLAND IN LOSS TO NORWICH
Cervenak Hits Winner, Drives in 5 in 8-6 Win

Mike Cervenak hit a tie-breaking three-run home run in the seventh inning to lift the Norwich Navigators to an 8-6 win over the Portland Sea Dogs on Tuesday night.

Cervenak was 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBI in the win.
He is now 14-for-23 for nine RBI and nine runs scored against the Sea Dogs this season.

Stefan Bailie hit his first Double-A home run for the Sea Dogs - a three-run shot in the fourth inning that gave Portland a 5-3 lead.

Mike O'Keefe homered and John Hattig singled, doubled and scored twice.

Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at Norwich

Michael Cervanek exploded with five RBI and leadoff hitter Carlos Valderrama scored two runs as the Norwich Navigators defeated the Portland Sea Dogs, 8-6, in Eastern League action Tuesday night.

Norwich improved its record to 50-44 while Portland fell to 46-50.

Cervanek hit his 15th home run of the season and finished the night 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a double.

Doug Clark went 1-for-2 with two runs scored for the Navigators.

Matt Palmer earned the win and upped his record to 3-6.
Palmer allowed one run on two hits and struck out three in 1-2/3rd innings of work.

Alberto Montes pitched a perfect ninth inning and recorded his 13th save of the year.

Portland's James Johnson suffered the loss and fell to 0-2.
Johnson gave up three runs on two hits and two walks in three innings pitched.

Stefan Bailie hit his first home run of the season and knocked in three runs while Mike O'Keefe smacked his 13th of 2004 and plated two for the Sea Dogs.

CERVENAK PUTS NAVS BACK ON TRACK
Seventh inning three-run homerun wins it 8-6

Mike Cervenak bookended a first inning two-run double with a two-out three-run homerun in the seventh to break a 5-5 tie for the game winner, as the Navigators beat the Sea Dogs 8-6.

The teams went back-and-forth throughout the game thanks in large part to Cervenak, whose first inning double knocked in the first two of a three run inning for Norwich.
Chris Curry followed with an RBI single.

Portland came back with five unanswered runs on two long balls - a two run homerun by Hamden’s Mike O’Keefe in the second and a three-run homerun by Stefan Bailie in the fourth.

Norwich then tied it with a two-run fifth on an RBI double by Bryan Carter and a run-scoring double-play ball by Carlos Valderrama.

Matt Palmer got the win with 1.2 innings of relief, giving up a run and striking out three.

Albert Montes nailed his 13th save with a 1-2-3 ninth.