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The Sea Dogs fail to support Frank Brooks and tie a team record with their 10th loss in a row.

By KEVIN THOMAS Staff Writer August 9, 2006

Jeremy West watched his long fly ball head toward the Maine Monster in the eighth inning. A shot over the left-field wall would have been a game-tying, three-run homer. The ball hooked left, foul. And in the ninth inning, with bases loaded, Dusty Brown watched his potential grand slam take the same route, left of the foul pole. That is the way of the Portland Sea Dogs these days. A tease here, a chance there, but, ultimately, a loss. The Sea Dogs fell into the record books Tuesday night with a 4-3 loss to the Harrisburg Senators before a soldout Hadlock Field crowd of 7,368. The defeat was the 10th straight for Portland (58-56), matching the longest losing streak in team history, set in the 1994 inaugural season. With the loss, the once first-place Sea Dogs fell 4 1/2 games behind Trenton in the Eastern League Northern Division. Portland is 2 1/2 games behind second-place Binghamton. The top two teams in the division reach the playoffs. There are 26 games left. "If we figure out a way to play well down the stretch, we got a chance," Sea Dogs Manager Todd Claus said. Portland got a fine start from pitcher Frank Brooks (2-4), who gave up one run until trouble arrived in the seventh inning. The Sea Dogs outhit Harrisburg 7-6, but Portland could not find a way out of its slump. "It's the way it's been going the last couple of weeks," Brown said. "No breaks." In that ninth inning, with the Sea Dogs down 4-1, Portland loaded the bases with no outs. Brown, after his foul ball, hit a sacrifice fly to right. Jacoby Ellsbury did the same thing, closing the score to 4-3. With a runner on first, pinch-hitter Zach Borowiak ripped a line drive, which third baseman Greg Thissen snagged to end the game. "Just enough to lose," Claus said. "We get a quality start and clean defense. We just don't have the pop in the lineup right now." Claus referred to a pair of players on the disabled list - Chad Spann and Luis Jimenez - who have combined for 26 home runs and 109 RBI. Portland had no extra-base hits and little support for Brooks. Brooks pitched a no-hitter through three innings and showed his mettle in the fourth when the first two batters reached second and third base, on a walk and Prentice Redman's double. Brooks then struck out the side. But Christian Guerrero led off the fifth by drilling an outside Brooks pitch to right field for a triple. He scored on a sacrifice fly. Brooks threw 100 pitches through six innings, but still came out for the seventh. Claus wanted to stay with a hot pitcher, and maybe get him a win. But with one out, Brooks issued a walk before facing Guerrero again. Brooks went inside this time, and Guerrero crushed it over the Monster for a two-run homer. Reliever Randy Beam gave up one more run in the inning for a 4-0 lead. Portland got one back in the eighth (Matt Van Der Bosch's RBI single) and then had its chance in the ninth. "You didn't see anyone quitting," Claus said. "We have to just keep grinding it out." NOTES: Spann is probably finished for the season with a severely sprained ankle, Claus said. "There's a chance he could return but the ankle is just not improving." . . . Jimenez, however, likely will return from the disabled list (sore wrist) this homestand. . . . Pitcher Andrew Dobies, a third-round draft pick in 2004, makes his Hadlock debut tonight. . . . The games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday are sellouts. When games are sold out, returned season tickets are sometimes available the day of the game. . . . Ellsbury, who singled in the first, has hit safely in 20 of his 25 starts. Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at: kthomas@pressherald.com