Sea Dogs 2, Fisher Cats 0

MANCHESTER – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (23-27) fell, 2-0, on Sunday afternoon in the final game of their homestand to their division rivals, the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston Red Sox, 24-27).

After four straight Fisher Cats wins over the Sea Dogs from Tuesday through Game 1 of the Saturday doubleheader, Portland won the last two matchups of the series.

Sea Dogs pitching shut out New Hampshire for the second straight game. Including their 2-0 loss on Saturday, New Hampshire has not scored in 16 consecutive innings, their longest stretch without a run this year.

The Fisher Cats used five relievers from the fifth through the ninth innings. Andrew Bash, Hayden Juenger, Parker Caracci, Cre Finfrock and Sean Mellen each worked a scoreless frame.

All five relievers had at least one strikeout. Juenger came out of the pen for the second time this season and struck out two. Finfrock retired all three batters he faced, also striking out two. Mellen finished with two strikeouts of his own.

Trent Palmer made his first start at Delta Dental Stadium, throwing 4.0 innings and allowing two earned runs on two hits. He walked one and struck out three. Portland’s David Hamilton went deep with a solo homer in the third, Palmer’s first home run given up at Double-A.

The Fisher Cats bats totaled four hits and had their best chances in the second and ninth innings. In the second, New Hampshire loaded the bases and forced Portland’s Victor Santos (W, 5-4) to throw 32 pitches. He got out of the inning unscathed and went on to earn the win.

In the ninth, Spencer Horwitz walked and Luis De Los Santos doubled to set up runners on second and third with one out. Two straight strikeouts ended the game.

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