Yard Goats first baseman Roberto Ramos watches the ball sail out of Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Thursday night’s Eastern League game. It was his sixth Eastern League home run in two weeks. Portland rocked the Yard Goats, 10-2.
HARTFORD, July 5 – Fans looking for home runs should come see the Hartford Yard Goats play. There were five home runs hit out of Dunkin’ Donuts Park Thursday night.
Unfortunately for the home team, three of the five home runs came off the bats of the Portland Sea Dogs, who had 15 hits in a 10-2 Eastern League rout of the Yard Goats. Every Portland batter had at least one hit for the Sea Dogs (33-51), who beat Hartford for the second straight night.
Portland, the Double A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, was led by Jantzen Witte, who had a home run, double, single and knocked in four runs. Josh Ockimey had three hits while Tony Renda and Danny Mars each had a home run, a double and two RBI.
But there were reasons for Yard Goats fans to smile. Outfielder Mylz Jones hit his eighth home run of the season and newcomer Robert Ramos hit his sixth Eastern League home run.
The Yard Goats pitching staff took it on the chin. Starter Evan Grills gave up five runs in the fourth inning with Witte’s three-run home run into the upper deck in right field as the big blow. His shot just hit the top of the yellow line in right field, bounced up in the air and back into the field of play. Mars and Renda each had RBI doubles in the fourth.
Yard Goats outfielder Mylz Jones his his eighth home run of the season Thursday night.
Portland starter Dedgar Jimenez (4-6) pitched five innings, allowing two runs and three hits to earn the win. He struck out seven.
Jones, who is hitting .273, hit his eighth home run of the year in the first inning to give Hartford a 1-0 lead. Jones has hit safely in his last 17 consecutive games at Dunkin’ Donuts Park, dating back to May 26.
Ramos was promoted to Hartford (41-43) on June 21 after earning All-Star honors with Lancaster in the California League, the top Single A affiliate for the Colorado Rockies.
At Lancaster, Ramos hit. 304 with 17 home runs, 15 doubles and 43 RBI in 60 games. He had a pair of solo home runs in his Double A debut at Akron and has six home runs and 10 RBI in just 13 Eastern League games. His home run in the third inning cut the Portland lead to 3-2.
The game, played before more than 5,288 fans, was the second of five games in Hartford between the two teams. The two teams play game three Friday night at 7 p.m.
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