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The Sea Dogs fall 4-2 at Hadlock, then bid reliever T.J. Large good luck with his promotion to Triple-A.

By KEVIN THOMAS, Staff Writer July 12, 2009

PORTLAND — Sea Dogs relief pitcher T.J. Large is normally a talkative guy. But he was quiet coming out of Manager Arnie Beyeler's office.

Large was soaking in the good news. Beyeler said Large was being promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket.

The announcement added a positive twist to the night, after Portland lost 4-2, before a sold-out Hadlock crowd of 7,368.

Large, 26, pitched the ninth inning Saturday, allowing one single and no runs, lowering his ERA to 1.08 in 34 appearances.

"It's nice to see (the Red Sox) make room for a guy who has done his job here," Beyeler said.

How the roster spot in Pawtucket opened up has not been announced. Large's spot in Portland will be taken by reliever Ryne Miller, 23, from advanced Class A Salem. He had a 2.77 ERA there.

Large came to Portland last year from Class A, and now he's one stop short of the majors.

"Those guys up there are good," Large said quietly. "I've just been waiting for my opportunity. I'm excited."

On Saturday, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats had to be excited about the job done by Adrian Martin (1-1), who recently moved from the bullpen to the rotation. His sinker-slider combination stymied the Sea Dogs.

Miller pitched six shutout innings, holding the Sea Dogs to three hits and a walk.

"He's got such a good sinker and, when he commands his slider like he did tonight, it just makes the sinker even better," New Hampshire pitching coach Tom Signore said.

Portland's pitchers performed well, except for one inning.

For four of the five innings he pitched, Sea Dogs starter Blake Maxwell (1-6) held the Fisher Cats to one hit.

But the fourth inning cost Maxwell dearly. He gave up five consecutive hits, including two home runs, as New Hampshire scored all four of its runs in a flash.

"He just got a little bit up in the zone and they swung the bats that inning," Beyeler said.

Both of Portland's runs were unearned.

In the seventh, Lars Anderson doubled and scored when left fielder Todd Donovan dropped Argenis Diaz's line drive.

In the eighth inning, Josh Reddick reached on a throwing error. Ryan Kalish hit a grounder to second baseman Brad Emaus, who tried to field the ball and tag Reddick at the same time.

The ball popped out of Emaus' glove, and Reddick raced to third.

New Hampshire Manager Gary Cathcart argued that it was interference on Reddick. He was thrown out of the game, and then argued some more.

Reddick scored on Jorge Jimenez's sacrifice fly.

Kalish was thrown out stealing. John Otness doubled and Anderson walked. But they were stranded when Diaz grounded to second.

Portland relievers Chris Province (3.29 ERA) and Dustin Richardson (2.61) preceded Large and pitched shutout ball.

The teams meet again today at 1 p.m.

NOTES: Saturday featured the annual "Shirts off Their Backs" promotion. The Sea Dogs wore special jerseys (black and blue, with small stars). They were raffled off during the game, with proceeds going to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. ... In Pawtucket, Jed Lowrie went 3 for 5 with a double.

Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com