The Result
Sea Dogs - 4 to 3

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

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

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 4 at-bats

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - one down
Ball - low
Called strike
Called strike - on the outside corner
"Roneberg 'hit that on the screws' and rips a line drive into centrefield but it's tracked down and caught"
Out F8
Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - high
Called strike - breaking ball - on the inside corner
Foul ball - change-up - popped-up out of play
Ball - outside
"And that change-up is popped-up on the infield and caught by the second-baseman"
Out F4
Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
"A ground ball to the second-baseman for an easy play at first base for the out"
Out 4-to-3
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at third base - two down
Ball - breaking ball - down and away
Ball - low
"Roneberg hits that sharply but straight at the first-baseman who flips to the pitcher covering first for the final out of the innings"
Out 3-to-1

Heard during the game
N/A

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports

Alvarez puts Sea Dogs out ahead to stay

On the night when the No. 1 Red Sox prospect made his debut, the Hadlock Field crowd got a reminder that another top prospect wears the Portland Sea Dogs' uniform.

Left-hander Abe Alvarez (9-8) put in his finest performance of the season, throwing six innings of shutout ball, allowing two hits.

His pitching, plus three big hits, gave Portland a 4-3 win over the Erie SeaWolves before 6,118 at Hadlock Field Monday night.

Stefan Bailie and Mike O'Keefe each hit solo home runs, and Mike Lockwood laced a two-run triple to right field to pace Portland (51-57).

Erie (56-49) made it close when Curtis Granderson hit a three-run homer in the ninth off reliever Juan Perez.
But Perez retired the final three batters to end it.

Monday marked the first Double-A game for shortstop Hanley Ramirez, Boston's No. 1 prospect.
He went 0 for 3 and made five assists in the field.
He started one double play, flipping to former shortstop Kenny Perez at second, who skipped the ball to Bailie at first.

"I love my middle guys," Portland Manager Ron Johnson said.
"We got to see what Hanley can do, and Kenny did a great job for his first time (at second base)."

Ramirez handled the first two plays of the game, grounders, with easy throws to first.

Alvarez was already on cruise control.
He retired 12 of the first 13 batters and had a no-hitter until Juan Tejada's leadoff single in the fifth.

"He tries to get you to fish at something he wants you to hit," said Granderson, who struck out in the first inning.
"He did it whether he was ahead or behind. Give him credit. We had to be a little more disciplined."

Alvarez struck out four.

He left after the sixth inning (and only 76 pitches) because the Red Sox want to limit his outings in this, his first full pro season.

"I could have kept pitching, but I'm OK with it," said Alvarez.
"I located my fastball inside and out. They didn't get good swings on it.
And I got the swings I wanted on my change-up.
And my curveball kept them off-balance."

The rest was up to the Portland offense and bullpen.

The offense did not come easy against Matt Roney (8-9) and his fastball.

Facing Bailie in the fourth, Roney threw an inside fastball at the knees.
"It was a pretty good pitch," Bailie said.
"I'm surprised I hit it as well as I did."
His home run cleared the clock atop the message board in left-center.

In the seventh, O'Keefe led off with his team-leading 14th home run to right.
Perez (2 for 2) singled with one out and Sheldon Fulse walked, chasing Roney.
With two outs, Lockwood lined a triple off reliever Alex Lontayo for a 4-0 lead.

"In that situation, you're looking for something to hit hard," Lockwood said, "and I got an inside fastball."

Bryan Hebson, just down from Pawtucket, made his second relief stint in a row and threw hitless ball for 1-2/3 innings.

Perez finished the eighth and, after his bump in the ninth, ended the game with a strikeout.

NOTES
Bailie went 1 for 3 and his average dropped to .373, with four home runs in 16 games
Roney hit Bailie on the wrist in the sixth.
"It was not intentional," Bailie said. "I've been thrown at before."
Alvarez became the first Portland pitcher to throw six scoreless innings since Charlie Zink did it in May.

'Wolves' rally falls short at Portland

Erie SeaWolves outfielder Curtis Granderson, the Eastern League's player of the week, continued his hot hitting Monday.
But even his three-run homer in the ninth inning was not enough to beat the Portland Sea Dogs.

The SeaWolves lost to the Sea Dogs 4-3 in front of 6,118 fans at Hadlock Field.

The loss was the second straight for Erie, which opened an 11-game road trip with two wins at Harrisburg.

The SeaWolves (56-49) did not lose any ground to third-place Bowie in the race for the second playoff spot in the Southern Division.
The Baysox (56-53) lost at New Hampshire and remained two games behind the SeaWolves.

Erie could not solve the pitching of Sea Dogs starter Abe Alvarez and reliever Bryan Hebson.
Alvarez (9-7) threw six shutout innings while allowing just two singles with four strikeouts.
Hebson did not allow a hit in 1-2/3 innings of relief.

With the SeaWolves trailing 4-0 in the ninth, Anderson Hernandez was safe on an error and David Espinosa walked.
Granderson then unloaded his 14th home run of the season, a blast off of Juan Perez that cleared the center-field fence.
Perez then retired the next three batters to preserve the Sea Dogs' victory.
The homer was Granderson's fifth in four games.

Matt Roney (8-9) gave up all four Portland runs.

Stefan Bailie hit a solo homer in the fourth inning, his fourth of the season. Mike O'Keefe opened the seventh with his 14th homer of the season.
After giving up a single to Kenny Perez and walking Sheldon Fulse, Roney was relieved by Alex Lontayo.
Two batters later, Mike Lockwood drove in both with a triple down the right-field line.

Eastern League Game Summary - Erie at Portland

Abe Alvarez tossed six innings of shutout baseball and struck out four to lead the Portland Sea Dogs over the Erie SeaWolves, 4-3 in an Eastern League battle.

Alvarez allowed just two hits and walked one as he improved to 9-7.

Stefan Bailie and Mike O`Keefe each homered in the win for Portland.
Bailie got the Sea Dogs on the board with a solo blast in the fourth inning, while O'Keefe started the seventh with his 14th round tripper of the season.

Mike Lockwood plated two runs in the frame with a triple.

Kenny Perez went 2-for-2 with a run scored in the win.

Erie's Matt Roney was saddled with the loss.
In 6-1/3rd innings he yielded four earned runs on six hits and three walks.
Roney struck out one as he fell to 8-9.

Curtis Granderson drove in all three SeaWolves runs with a three-run home run in the top of the ninth.

The two teams are scheduled to resume their series tomorrow at 7:00 PM (ET).

ALVAREZ SPARKS PORTLAND TO 4-3 WIN OVER ERIE
Hanley Ramirez Hitless in AA Debut

Abe Alvarez tossed six shutout innings, retiring 17 of the 20 men he faced, as the Portland Sea Dogs won the opening game of a four-game series with a 4-3 win over the Erie SeaWolves on Monday night before 6,118 at Hadlock Field.

Alvarez allowed only one runner past first base in his six shutout frames.
He became the first Sea Dogs starter with six shutout innings since Charlie Zink on May 22.

Mike O'Keefe and Stefan Bailie hit long home runs for Portland (Bailie cleared the Legg Mason Message Center) and Mike Lockwood added a two-run triple in the seventh inning.

Juan Perez allowed a three-run home run in the ninth inning but recorded the final three outs to end the game.

Hanley Ramirez went 0-for-3 in his AA debut, but handled five defensive chances flawlessly - including a fine double play in the fifth inning.

SeaWolves rally late but lose, 4-3

The SeaWolves late inning rally wasn't enough, losing 4-3 to the Portland Sea Dogs in the series opener on Monday night.

Trailing 4-0 in the ninth, Anderson Hernandez led off the inning by reaching on a seond baseman's error.
David Espinosa followed with a walk and Curtis Granderson smacked a three-run homer just clearing the center field wall.
Juan Perez would retire Kurt Airoso, Juan Tejeda and Rich Gomez to end the game.

Abe Alvarez (9-7) pitched 2-hit ball over six innings to earn his first win since July 6.

Matt Roney (8-9) gave up four runs in six and 1/3 innings to suffer the loss.