First to 50: 'Dogs Down 'Cats 3-2

Diaz dazzles over career-high eight innings, Marrero, Coyle homer in win

PORTLAND, Maine - The Portland Sea Dogs (50-26) became the first team in professional baseball to 50 wins with a 3-2 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (31-44) in the series opener Monday night at Hadlock Field. The win pushes the record to 4-1 on the homestand for the Sea Dogs.

Luis Diaz took the hill for his home debut at Hadlock Monday night and picked up where he left off in his first Double-A start.

The righty retired the first five batters he faced before Jonathan Jones knocked a single off of him in the second. Matt Newman backed up the single with a wall-ball double, Jones scored and New Hampshire held a 1-0 lead.

Portland would respond with a pair of its own in the bottom half of the inning off of Austin Bibens-Dirkx.
Sean Coyle began the inning with an opposite-field solo home run to right-center, his eighth, which tied the game. Heiker Meneses gave the Sea Dogs the lead for good with a single that plated David Chester from second and gave the hometown team the 2-1 lead.

Deven Marrero stayed red-hot following his Eastern League Player of the Week honors, homered to left-center to begin the third and upped the lead to 3-1. The home run was his fourth of the year and came off Richard Bleier, also from Davie, Florida, the shortstop's hometown.

Diaz took the lead and rolled with it. He was helped out by a 9-6 double play in the third, pitched around a two-out walk in the fourth, and induced another double play in the fifth. The Venezuela native retired the side in order in the sixth and, again, worked around a two-out base-runner in the seventh to keep it a two-run lead for Portland.

The righty finished a career-high eight innings and allowed just the one run on seven hits; he walked two and struck out four. He improves to 2-0 in Double-A and has yielded just two runs in 14 innings.

Miguel Celestino took over in the ninth and gave up a one-out blast to Jones, as the 'Cats pulled to within one at 3-2. Matt Newman crushed a triple off the wall in right-center, but Celestino induced two groundouts to third and the game came to a close. The righty picked up his sixth save of the season.

Bibens-Dirkx (2-2) worked the first two innings for the 'Cats and took the loss giving up two runs on four hits and striking out two. Bleier went the next five innings and allowed the home run to Marrero, but that was the only run; he allowed five hits and struck out three. John Anderson pitched a scoreless ninth.

The Sea Dogs and Fisher Cats resume their three-game series with the second tilt Tuesday night at 7:00PM from Hadlock Field. RHP Mike McCarthy (6-2, 3.77) is scheduled to take the hill for the Sea Dogs and will face LHP Daniel Norris (0-0, 6.35) of the Fisher Cats. Radio coverage begins at 6:40PM on the WPEI U.S. Cellular Sea Dogs Radio Network. MiLB.tv coverage begins at 6:55PM.