Kevin Thomas - Late strike lifts Trenton past Portland; Top prospect Austin Jackson's late homer wins it for the Thunder in a doubleheader opener
The Sea Dogs struck first with three runs in the third inning, on a two-out, nobody-on rally, against Trenton right-hander Eric Hacker.
Bryan Pritz, playing only his second game since coming down from Triple-A Pawtucket, singled. Mickey Hall doubled him home with a blast to right center.
With Hall on second, lefty Zach Daeges was intentionally walked. Clean-up hitter Aaron Bates came up and added to his team RBI lead (51) with a line-drive single to center.
Mark Wagner doubled Daeges in, for a 3-0 lead, putting runners on second and third. Lars Anderson struck out to end the rally.
Trenton got to Portland starter Kyle Jackson for three runs in the fourth, on a walk and three hits. Jackson got only one out in the inning and was relieved by Miguel Asencio.
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The Sea Dogs tied it in the fifth. Pritz led off with a double to right center. Hall picked up his second RBI with a single to center.
James (3-4) pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, using only five pitches. James brought command to the game. He threw a total of 17 pitches (14 strikes) and began every batter he faced with a strike.
But Jackson proved too tough. Jackson, 21, is rated the Yankees' No. 2 prospect by Baseball America. An eighth-round pick in 2005, Jackson got an $800,000 signing bonus, which kept him from accepting a basketball scholarship to Georgia Tech.
Kevin Thomas - Dogs rained out; Bell on DL with fracture
From bad news to worse ... Sea Dogs outfielder Bubba Bell has a stress fracture in his left femur. Bell initially thought he had a sore quadriceps muscle, but further tests Friday and Saturday revealed the fracture.
Bell, 25, is leaving today for the Red Sox baseball complex in Fort Myers, Fla. to begin treatments. He is out at least four weeks and a return to Portland this year is uncertain.
Kevin Thomas - Sea Dogs closer might be next candidate for promotion
The minors are one big school of baseball learning. So Double-A is like taking honors courses -- more challenging, and harder to grade on top.
BEAU VAUGHAN is one of those players waiting to move on. Vaughan, a right-handed reliever and third-round draft pick in 2003, figures to be a candidate for promotion.
Vaughan is 27, and he's putting up good numbers (2.45 ERA, 13 saves in 15 chances) in his second season with the Sea Dogs.
Boston has promoted three relievers from Portland to Pawtucket -- Chris Smith, Hunter Jones and Jose Vaquedano -- but Vaughan remains. It's difficult to keep thoughts of a promotion out of his head.
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Hazen is well aware of Vaughan.
"He's putting pressure to create a spot," Hazen said. "That's what you need to do to move -- put the pressure on us, to force us to look at your performance over an extended period of time, developing the things we're asking you to develop and show that consistency."
Kevin Thomas - Josh Reddick coming to Portland
Maybe he's not THE big name arriving in Portland on Monday, but it is still big news that Josh Reddick is coming to Hadlock Field.
Reddick, 21, one of the Boston Red Sox top outfield prospects, has been promoted from advanced Class A Lancaster to fill the vacancy created when Bubba Bell went on the disabled list (see previous blog).
Reddick was batting .343 in Lancaster with 17 home runs.
