Kevin Thomas - Bowden's stylish again as Dogs stroll to a win; Michael Bowden allows one run and strikes out eight in five innings against New Hampshire.
Michael Bowden headed to the dugout in the fifth inning Wednesday night as his Portland Sea Dogs teammates jogged past him.
Would this be the last time Bowden walked off the Hadlock Field mound, following the path of other pitching prospects in Portland like Jonathan Papelbon, Clay Buchholz and Justin Masterson?
“I have no idea,” Bowden said. “I don’t think that way. We’ll see.”
Bowden finished his five innings, allowing one run on five hits and two walks. He wasn’t real crisp but gave another hint of his dominance, striking out eight.
Bowden ran his record to 9-4 as he and the Sea Dogs cruised to an 11-1 victory against the New Hampshire Fisher Cats at Hadlock Field. The game began an hour late, at 8 p.m., because of rain.
Iggy Suarez knocked in three runs on three hits, and Jeff Corsaletti and Mickey Hall both added two RBI.
Richie Lentz, a new reliever, and closer Beau Vaughan combined for four innings of scoreless relief. Portland improved to 50-39, moving to four games behind first-place Trenton in the Eastern League Northern Division.
But the story was Bowden. He already has pitched 104 1⁄3 innings this season (2.33 ERA). Counting his Sea Dogs time in 2007, he has totaled 201 innings in Double-A and appears ready for a promotion to Triple-A, and someday the majors.
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Bowden was relieved by Lentz, 23, who just arrived from advanced Class A Lancaster, Calif. Lentz, a 19th-round draft pick in 2006 out of the University of Washington, compiled a 2.87 ERA in Lancaster. He hit 95 mph on the Hadlock radar gun and struck out four in 21⁄3 innings, allowing three hits and a walk.
Vaughan got the last five outs, lowering his ERA to 2.56.
Kevin Thomas - No George Bush, but Sweet Caroline
Bowden got the win in Portland's 11-1 victory over New Hampshire ... Iggy Suarez (.251) had his best game in a while, with 3 hits and 3 RBI ... Mickey Hall (.26&) went 2-for-4 ... New Hampshire (and former Portland) third baseman Andrew Pinckney was 3-for-4, with 2 doubles.
Lancaster first baseman Lars Anderson hit his 13th home run, went 3-for-5 and is batting .324 ... Jason Place (.255) also went 3-for-5, with his 12th homer ... reliever Cody McAllister (2.63) pitched two scoreless innings.
Greenville starter Felix Doubront (3.61) pitched 5 innings (5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K).
In Lowell, catcher Tim Federowicz (seventh round draft pick out of North Carolina) had a nice pro debut (2-for-3) ... Australian Mitch Dening, 20, upped his average to .380, going 2-for-4 with his second home run ... Brock Huntzinger, 20, the 200' 3rd-round draft pick, lowered his ERA to 0.6&, going 6 innings (5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K).
