The Result
Sea Dogs - 7 to 5

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
50 wins - 57 losses

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

At the end of the Game
1 hit from 4 at-bats - home run, 1 x RBI, 1 x run scored, 2 x strike outs

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
(did not hear the pitch sequence)
Bases empty - two down
A well hit and long fly ball to the track in centrefield
Out F8
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
"And Brett jumps on that first pitch and it's driven very hard and very deep into rightfield"
"......and there it goes!!!"
HOME RUN
......and 1 x RBI (click here for all the home run details)
And here is what the commentator said
"and Roneberg has his thirteenth home run of the season"
"that is Brett's first home run in two-hundred-and-eight plate appearances over the last fifty-one games"
"the wind is blowing out here at Gil Stadium but that did not play a part in that as it was a 'wicked' line drive which cleared the fence"
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Swing&miss
Foul ball - slashed down the leftfield line
Called strike - "that's on the outside corner and Roneberg knew it and he was stepping across the plate to head back to the dugout before the umpire made the call"
Strike out
Fourth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Called strike
Called strike - on the outside corner
Called strike - "that pitch appeared to be three or four inches outside and Roneberg is in the face of the umpire but he isn't paying attention ...... Roneberg is still saying something as he walks back to the dugout ...... the strike zone has been there all day and a few players on each side have argued about the calls"
Strike out

Heard during the game
N/A

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports

Sea Dogs capitalize by using long ball

Eric Glaser noted that the flags kept blowing out at Gill Stadium.
While the wind was welcomed by fans dripping in the humidity, it got Glaser's attention for a different reason.
Glaser, a Portland Sea Dogs pitcher, has witnessed how Gill serves as a launching pad for wind-driven home runs.

"I saw that Saturday (when New Hampshire hit four home runs in an 8-1 victory over the Sea Dogs)," Glaser said.
"I knew I had to keep the ball down."

Glaser did.
New Hampshire pitcher Josh Banks did not.
And the Sea Dogs won.

Portland hit a season-high four home runs, all off Banks, to beat the Fisher Cats 7-5 Sunday before a crowd of 3,725.

The Sea Dogs (50-57) prevented a three-game sweep by the Fisher Cats (61-46), who are battling Binghamton for first place in the Eastern League's Northern Division.

Glaser (3-4), a reliever forced into the rotation because of injuries, scattered six hits and walked none, allowing one run in five innings.

"(Glaser) did his job and got us into the sixth inning with a lead," Sea Dogs Manager Ron Johnson said.
"And it was nice to see the bats come alive after being nonexistent for two days."

Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie all homered for Portland, the first time the Sea Dogs have hit four home runs since June 2003.

"In day games, the ball can fly out of here," Kilburg said.

At first, it looked like nothing would fly past Banks (2-5), who struck out his first two batters.

"You saw what he can do with his command," Kilburg said.
"But he made some mistakes and we made him pay."

Kilburg hit a two-run shot to center in the second inning.

In the third, Lockwood and Roneberg went back to back to right field, where the wind was blowing out.

Bailie continued his hot streak, hitting a solo shot to right in the sixth for a 5-1 lead.
He is hitting .393 in 13 games.

Portland scored two more in the seventh, catching a break when third baseman Brad Hassey dropped a foul pop fly by Kilburg leading off the inning.

"It was a breath of fresh air," Kilburg said. "I had to do something with it."

Kilburg doubled to deep center and scored on a triple by Sheldon Fulse.
Alberto Concepcion then doubled to drive in Fulse.

New Hampshire scored four in the seventh off reliever James Johnson, closing to 7-5.

Bryan Hebson, just sent down from Triple-A Pawtucket, finished off the seventh, and Mark Deschenes pitched two scoreless innings for his second save.

Portland made no errors and turned three double plays.

New Hampshire outhit Portland 11-9, but the Sea Dogs stranded only one runner while the Fisher Cats left five.

NOTES
After the game, second baseman Jesus Medrano was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket, and catcher Concepcion was sent back down to Class A Sarasota.
Catcher Jeff Bailey will be returning from Pawtucket today.
The Red Sox did not announce who is taking Medrano's place, but it is possible highly regarded shortstop prospect Hanley Ramirez may finally be coming to Portland.
Roneberg's home run was his 13th, tying him for the team lead with Mike O'Keefe.
Roneberg leads the Sea Dogs with 62 RBI.
The Sea Dogs will start a four-game series against Erie at Hadlock Field tonight at 7 p.m.

Fisher Cats claw back but fall short

It was home run derby day for the Portland Sea Dogs yesterday.

Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg, Stefan Bailie and Joe Kilburg each slugged a homer to lead the Sea Dogs over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 7-5, in Eastern League action before 3,725 fans at Gill Stadium.

While the Fisher Cats made a late charge with a four-run seventh inning rally, the locals just couldn’t overcome the early barrage from the Sea Dogs.

“The same thing happened to us today that happened to them Saturday,” said Portland manager Ron Johnson.
“Today, their pitcher left some pitches up in the strike zone and we took advantage.”

Johnson was referring to losing hurler Josh Banks, who had trouble spotting his pitches.

The onslaught started in the second inning when Bailie reached on a infield error by third baseman Brad Hassey and eventually trotted home on Kilburg’s second homer of the season.

Things didn’t get better for Banks in the third inning when Lockwood (7th) and Roneberg (13th) connected with back-to-back bombs for a 4-0 cushion.

Banks (2-5), who had allowed six homers in 54 innings over 11 starts before the game, surrendered his fourth and last roundtripper of the afternoon to Bailie (3rd) in the sixth that padded the lead to 5-1.

In six-plus innings, Banks allowed eight hits and seven runs.
He walked none and fanned six.

“I saw a lot of good things from Josh today on the mound,” said Fisher Cats manager Mike Basso.
“They just got the barrel on the ball today and the wind was blowing out.
But give them credit, those homers were well hit.”

Hassey had a day to forget.
Along with his second-inning error, he dropped a pop-up in foul territory in the seventh inning for another miscue.
Kilburg took advantage of the second life, driving a double to center and later scoring an unearned run on a triple by Sheldon Fulse.
Later, Alberto Concepcion drilled a run-scoring double for a 7-1 cushion.

For Hassey, two errors led to two unearned runs in a game that ended up being decided by two runs.

His manager came to his defense yesterday.
“He had a tough day today, but everyone makes errors in this game,” said Basso.

Eric Glaser (3-4) worked five innings for the mound win, allowing six hits and one run in the third when Tyrell Godwin (3-for-5, three RBI) singled home Justin Singleton.

“Eric did his job and I felt with a four-run lead (in the sixth) it was a good time to go to our bullpen,” said Johnson, who actually ended up making three trips to the mound after Glaser departed.

The Fisher Cats rallied for four seventh-inning runs off James Johnson.
Godwin had a two-run double coupled with a pair of run-scoring singles from Hassey and Dominic Rich.
But Bryan Hebson struck out Aaron Hill in the seventh to stop the rally and Marc Deschenes hurled two scoreless innings to register the save.

Portland Salvages Series Finale With 7-5 Win Over Fisher Cats

The Portland Sea Dogs reached Josh Banks for four home runs in the first six innings and held off a late rally to beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7-5 in front of 3,725 at Gill Stadium Sunday afternoon.

Former Nashua Pride infielder Joe Kilburg went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double and two runs scored to pace the Sea Dogs' nine-hit attack.

Losing pitcher Josh Banks (2-5) allowed Kilburg's two-run blast with one out in the top of the second inning, served up back-to-back homers to Mike Lockwood and Brett Roneberg in the third and yielded a solo long ball to Stefan Bailie in the sixth that gave Portland (50-57) a 5-0 lead.

Banks would leave the game after giving up consecutive extra-base hits to Kilburg (double) and Sheldon Fulse (triple) at the start of the seventh inning.

The right-hander was charged with seven runs - six earned - on eight hits in six innings.

New Hampshire (61-46) fought back with four runs in the home half of the seventh inning against Portland reliever James Johnson.
Brad Hassey's run-scoring single scored Maikel Jova (double).
Tyrell Godwin (3-for-5, 3 RBI) hit a two-run double off the centerfield wall that plated Justin Singleton (walk) and Hassey, and Dominic Rich brought home Godwin with a single to cut Portland's lead to 7-5.

Right-hander Eric Glaser (3-4) worked five innings for the win, allowing a run on six hits.
He struck out one and did not walk a batter.

Marc Deschenes struck out three over the final two hitless frames to earn his second save.

New Hampshire took two of three from Portland in the series but fell into a first-place tie with Binghamton, pending the outcome of the Mets doubleheader against the New Britain Rock Cats Sunday night.

Portland Sea Dogs 7 - Hampshire Fisher Cats 5

Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie hit home runs to lead the Portland Sea Dogs to a 7-5 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats Sunday afternoon.

A two-run homer by Kilburg gave Portland (50-57) a 2-0 lead in the second inning.

Back-to-back homers by Lockwood and Roneberg with two outs in the third inning made it 4-0 Sea Dogs.

New Hampshire (61-46) got a run back in the third inning on Tyrell Godwin´s RBI single.

The Sea Dogs countered with Bailie´s solo homer in the sixth to go up 5-1.

In the seventh inning, Portland scored twice on Sheldon Fulse´s run-scoring triple and an RBI double by Alberto Concepcion, and the lead was 7-1.

New Hampshire staged a four-run rally in the seventh inning.
Godwin hit a two-run double and Brad Hassey and Dominic Rich contributed RBI singles.

Eric Glaser (3-4) allowed one run on six hits in five innings to win.

Josh Banks (2-5) was the loser.

Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at New Hampshire

Sheldon Fulse's RBI triple in the seventh inning was the difference as the Portland Sea Dogs edged out the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, 7-5, on Sunday afternoon.

Joe Kilburg gave Portland an early 2-0 lead by jacking a two-run home run to right field in the second inning.

The Sea Dogs extended their lead by two runs when Mike Lockwood and Brett Roneberg hit back-to-back solo homers in the third.

Stefan Bailie added another round-tripper in the sixth to make the score 5-1 in favor of Portland.

Fulse's RBI triple in the top of the seventh plated the eventual game-winner, and Alberto Concepcion gave the Sea Dogs some insurance by knocking in Fulse with a double.

The Fisher Cats posted four runs in the in the bottom half of the seventh to come within two runs of Portland, but Marc Deschenes tossed two shutout innings in relief to earn his second save of the year for the Sea Dogs.

Tyrell Godwin smacked a two-run double in the New Hampshire seventh and finished the game 3-for-5 with three RBI.

Eric Glaser surrendered a run on six hits in five innings and picked up the win.

Josh Banks (2-5) was touched up for seven runs, five earned, on seven hits and four home runs in six innings and was saddled with the loss.

Portland will host Erie on Monday night, while New Hampshire takes on Bowie.

LONG BALLS POWER SEA DOGS TO SUNDAY WIN
Portland Takes Final Game in New Hampshire, 7-5

Eric Glaser tossed five strong innings and was helped by four home runs as the Portland Sea Dogs salvaged the final game of a three-game series with a 7-5 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Sunday afternoon.

Glaser scattered six hits in five innings to improve to 3-4.

Joe Kilburg, Mike Lockwood, Brett Roneberg and Stefan Bailie each homered - Portland's first four-homer game since June 11, 2003.

Marc Deschenes tossed two scoreless innings with three strikeouts for his second save of the season.

Olympics
’TREE HEADING TO GAMES

Fisher Cat reliever John Ogiltree reports to Toronto today - not to join the Blue Jays.
The submariner will join the Canadian national team to prepare for the Olympic Games in Greece.

The northerners will practice at SkyDome and play games at Camden Yards in Baltimore before heading to Italy for a pre-tournament.

Team Canada is expected to arrive in Athens by Aug. 11.

“These last few weeks have seemed like an eternity. I can’t wait to get started and experience everything.
This is probably a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I just want to soak it all in,” said Ogiltree, who brought a 2-4 ERA and 2.44 ERA to the park yesterday.
“It’ll be a proud moment for all of us when we put that uniform on.”

Canada is expected to form one of its best squads ever for Olympic competition.

Rosters were finalized last night.
Jeff Francis of the Rockies, Justin Morneau of the Twins and at least a dozen more players with major-league experience are expected to play.
Simon Pond, property of the Blue Jays, will also be on the roster, along with former Fisher Cat crowd favorite Stubby Clapp.

“We’re not going to be favored to win gold, but we’ve got a shot to win a medal, maybe even a shot to win the gold,” Ogiltree said.
“Cuba is the favorite. We’ve played them before and almost beat them both times.”

Portland outfielder Brett Roneberg, a nemesis of the Fisher Cats, will be playing for Australia at the Summer Games.
Roneberg also represented Australia during the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Both Ogiltree and Roneberg were honored before yesterday’s 5:05 p.m. first pitch.

National Pride In Athens

Portland Sea Dogs outfielder Brett Roneberg will represent his native Australia at the Athens Olympics.
The Sea Dogs said he would join the team for the Summer Games Aug. 13-27.

Roneberg played for the Australian team in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.