Masterson on the mound

We were back at Hadlock Field today to see the Portland Sea Dogs take on the Bowie BaySox, the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Justin Masterson was on the mound in his second start for the Sea Dogs since returning from a terrific major-league debut with the Boston Red Sox.

But as he did during his first start back in Double-A, Masterson (on the mound in the photo at right) struggled today, as did the rest of the Sea Dogs. By the middle of the third inning, the 'Dogs had notched three Es and the BaySox had rung up five runs without any answer from the Sea Dogs. Would you believe us if we told you the Sea Dogs won that game? Had we not been there to see it in person, we probably wouldn't have believed that with some doubles and a bunch of walks courtesy of bad Bowie pitching, the Sea Dogs would come back for a 7-5 victory. Check out the game recap for the full breakdown, but to cut to the chase, Masterson made it as far as two-thirds of the way through the fifth inning, reliever Chad Rhoades got the win and Hunter Jones got the save. When it was all over, we were relieved to see the lighthouse. (If you haven't been to Hadlock Field, when a Sea Dog hits a home run or the team wins a game, a lighthouse comes up from behind the center field wall and lights up and spins around. Sometimes, there are even pyrotechnics to go with.)

Before the game, we hit the concourse for an autograph session with outfielder Bubba Bell (check out his stats). We were excited to see that Bubba was the player doing autographs today because we've enjoyed seeing him play with the Sea Dogs and the Lowell Spinners, and because he's got a great reputation as being a fan favorite wherever he's played. Bell -- who isn't listed on the Sea Dogs' Web site as on the DL but was wearing a walking cast today -- was very friendly and willing to spend some time talking to fans, not to mention pose for a photo.

In other minor league news, we were excited to see Jed Lowrie hit his first major-league home run tonight in Minnesota against the Twins. Jed, who was called up to the PawSox during last season, has been making the most of his short-term call-up to the Red Sox this month with some clutch hitting and great fielding. Lowrie, who is usually a shortstop but has played all over the infield lately, has been so good that it's made the highly paid Julio Lugo's poor fielding and so-so offense even more embarrassing. With Lugo now out with a concussion (they say it was a knee to the head sliding into second that did the damage, but we can't help but wonder if it was the work of an angry teammate or two after Lugo cost them the game the other night), we hope that Jed's time in the majors is extended further. P.S. Jed said in a post-game interview that former Sea Dog Josh Beckett was the one who got his home run ball back from a fan by trading a ball he'd autographed for the Lowrie ball.

Speaking of call-ups, Craig Hansen also got the call from the Red Sox this week. (This brings the number of "shirts" posted at Hadlock Field in honor of Sea Dogs who are with the Red Sox up to 11; Beckett is the only player in the group we haven't seen play with the Sea Dogs together, although J saw him there in 2001.) Hansen has been with the Paw Sox since 2006, and we were starting to wonder if he was going to top-out at Triple-A. After a hot start with the Sea Dogs in 2005 led to an appearance with the Red Sox that season, Hansen seemed to have trouble recapturing what had made him a stand-out at age 21. He's always had a fastball in the 90s, but lacked other pitches and the control to fool batters with more experience than Double-A. Hanson had surgery for sleep apnea during the off-season this year, and apparently, the predictions that it was going to make a big difference for him this season are coming true.

And one of our favorites, Brandon Moss, is out for at least a few weeks after an emergency appendectomy this week. We're bummed out about that - Moss was also up with the Red Sox temporarily and was doing great. (DITR has often speculated that if Moss was in a different team's system that he'd be playing every day in the majors.) We hope he's back on his feet soon and he gets a little more time with the Sox before they send him back to Pawtucket.