(New Britain, CT) – The Sea Dogs (24-17) earned a split of their day/night doubleheader beating the Rock Cats (21-20) 6-2 in the night-cap on Saturday night at New Britain Stadium. New Britain used a 4-run sixth inning to beat Portland 8-4 in the twinbill opener.

Tommy Hottovy made his 2008 debut and hurled five strong innings on four hits and two runs to notch the win for Portland. The lefty spent the first part of the season on the disabled list and was activated from the DL on Saturday morning. Hottovy’s lone blemish came in the fourth inning on a 2-run homer by Brock Peterson.

The Sea Dogs scored five runs over the fourth and fifth innings, receiving the knockout punch on a 2-run homer by Aaron Bates over the centerfield-wall in the fifth. Ryan Khoury had a big night, driving in three runs – all with two outs. Khoury knocked in the first run with a run-scoring single in the second. The Portland third baseman nailed a two-run double in the fourth, chasing Jason Miller (1-1) out of the game. Miller took the loss for New Britain, yielding four runs in just 3 and 2/3 innings.

Mickey Hall went 2-for-3 and greeted Jay Sawatski with a 2-out, run-scoring single in the fourth.

Chad Rhoades and Beau Vaughan pitched scoreless frames to wrap up the win for Portland.

The two teams conclude their 3-game series on Sunday afternoon at New Britain Stadium. RHP Michael Bowden (3-3, 2.57) will face RHP Anthony Swarzak (2-1, 3.96) – game time is 1:35 PM.

Notes…Zach Daeges walked in the second inning to extend his consecutive on-base streak to 18 straight games…Dustin Martin went 4-for-5 in the twinbill and is 13-for-23 (.565) against the Sea Dogs…Hottovy’s last start came on September 4, 2007 when he beat New Hampshire in Portland’s 1-game playoff at Hadlock Field.

Game 1 - Recap
The Rock Cats used a 4-run sixth inning to take the opener of a day/night doubleheader from the Sea Dogs, 8-4 on Saturday afternoon at New Britain Stadium. The two teams play will play game two at 6:35 PM - LHP Tommy Hottovy will face LHP Jason Miller.

Ryan Mullins (4-2) pitched six innings on four hits and four runs (one earned) to notch the win for New Britain. Mullins retired 13 of 14 batters after John Otness delivered a 2-run single in the first inning to give Portland a 3-0 lead. The Sea Dogs scored three unearned runs in the first, thanks to an error by first baseman Brock Peterson to start the game.

Carlos Vasquez (0-1) suffered the loss in his first appearance in the Red Sox system. Vasquez yielded four runs (three earned) on four hits in the sixth inning. Jeff Christy reached on an error by third baseman Andrew Pinckney to score the go-ahead run. Steve Tolleson (4-for-4, 3 RBI) followed with a 2-run single and Erik Lis added a run-scoring double.

Zach Daeges went 2-for-3 (2 RBI) and blasted his first Double-A home run in the sixth inning to tie the game at four. Daeges drove in the game's first run with an RBI double in the first.

Dustin Richardson made his 8th start of the season for the Sea Dogs and allowed six hits and four runs over five frames. New Britain cut the deficit to 3-2 in the second inning on a lead-off homer by David Winfree (10th of the season) and a run-scoring single by Dustin Martin. The Rock Cats took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Jeff Christy and Steve Tolleson's RBI single.

Portland drops to 2-2 on the roadtrip but has a 4-3 record against the Rock Cats in 2008.

Notes...Zach Daeges has hit safely in 15 of 16 games: .458 (22-for-48) and has reached base safely in 37 of 57 plate appearances since being activated from the disabled list on May 2...Jered Stanley went 1-for-3 in his second Double-A start.