Pitching Matchups; Game of the Day 6/7/11

6:35pm
Akron Aeros (Matt Packer 2-5, 4.85)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Dennis Suarez NR)

7:00pm
Richmond Flying Squirrels (Clayton Tanner 1-5, 4.47)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Stephen Fife 5-3, 3.35)

7:05pm
Bowie Baysox (Steve Johnson 4-1, 2.02)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Chad Beck 5-1, 3.90)

7:15pm
Pawtucket Red Sox (Kyle Weiland 5-4, 3.10)
vs. Norfolk Tides (Mitch Atkins 1-1, 3.53)

Game of the Day – Flying Squirrels vs. Sea Dogs – We are back after a few off days, buut now back to business as usual. The Sea Dogs were the worst team in the Eastern League after a 6-25 May. Now they have decided that they will try to not lose for a whole month, as they have caught fire since the start of June, running off five straight road wins over two decent teams in New Britain and Altoona. The only other win streak of any kind all season for Portland was a three game streak back in April. The Sea Dogs will now try to pile on as they return home to Hadlock to face off against two sub-.500 teams in Richmond and Bowie. The Flying Squirrels are first in for three with lefty Clayton Tanner getting the go from the hill. Tanner was ranked 30th in the San Francisco Giants system by Baseball America prior to the season, but has gotten off to a slow start in which he has had only one win and has been knocked around at times, allowing six or more hits in seven of his ten starts. This will be his eighth start on the road this season and Tanner is coming off a solid outing in Bowie last Wednesday when he scattered three hits and allowed one earned run in 6 innings. Stephen Fife hits the mound for the Sea Dogs with hopes of running the team's streak to six games, while picking up his sixth win in the process. Fife suffered his worst defeat of the season in his last start on May 28th against Trenton. In that game he allowed eleven hits and six earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. In his four starts prior to that, Fife had allowed only two earned runs total. The last time the Sea Dogs were at home, they went 2-7 against New Hampshire and Trenton, the two best teams in the EL. Hopefully lesser teams and some momentum will erase any memories of the last homestand.

Side note prediction (6-16) – Let’s ride the streak and predict a Sea Dogs victory tonight.

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