As we turn the page to August the Senators have a solid July to thank for being right in the thick of the Southwest Division race with about a month and a half left in the season. The Sens went 14-9 in July and have not lost a series in the second half. With last night’s win they also guaranteed themselves of a split, at a minimum, in this series.

The Sea Dogs have lost 5 of their last 6 coming into this evening’s game and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. The Senators meanwhile are winners of 3 of their last 6 and are 6-4 in their last 10. The Sea Dogs who were tied for first place in the Southwest Division standings have fallen to 2.5 games behind the Reading Fightin Phils. The Senators kept pace with first place Erie last night ending the night still 4 back of the Sea Wolves. The Sens surpassed the Chesapeake Baysox with their loss to Altoona.

The Senators will hand the ball to 6’8 right hander Yoel Tejeda Jr. Tejeda Jr is the # 16 overall prospect in the Nationals organization and will be making his second start for the Senators. Despite taking the loss in his debut it wasn’t all bad for the Florida State product. He was hurt by a 3 run home run and some inconsistency finding the strike zone. He pitched well in spurts during the outing and looks to build on his effort in tonight’s start.

The Portland Sea Dogs will counter with Jedixson Paez. Paez was acquired by the Chicago White Sox, from the Red Sox, in last year’s Rule 5 draft. When the White Sox designated him for assignment earlier this season he was returned to the Red Sox and assigned to Portland. He started the season with the White Sox big league club. He will be making his 15th appearance of the season for the Sea Dogs. He has not made it past the 4th inning in any of his outings this season. He’s coming off of his worst outing of the season where he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits, walking 1 and striking out 5 in just 2 2/3 innings of work.

A few Senators stats, per Frankie Vernouski:

Branden Boissiere is in the midst of a 10 game hitting streak. He’s 17-38 with 2 home runs, 7 doubles, 14 RBIs and has an OPS of 1.311 during the hitting streak.

Sam Petersen is also having a huge series with an OBP of .571. He has 5 hits in the series, has been walked 5 times and has been hit by 2 pitches.

The Senators set season marks in yesterday’s game walking a season high 11 times but striking out a season high 17 times.

New Month, same series. Sens and Sea Dogs for Saturday night baseball from sold out Delta Dental Park. Line ups have been posted and are below. First pitch coming up a bit after 6 o’clock

Harrisburg Senators Lineup: 1. Sam Petersen CF 2. Cortland Lawson SS 3. Branden Boissiere DH 4. Kervin Pichardo 3B 5 Ethan Petry 1B 6. TJ White RF 7. Sam Brown LF 8. Caleb Farmer C 9. Miguel Villarroel 2B

Portland Sea Dogs Lineup: 1. Tyler McDonough LF 2. Mason White SS 3. Jack Winnay 1B 4. Brooks Brannon DH 5. Johanfran Garcia C 6. Miguel Bleis RF 7. Will Turner CF 8. Max Ferguson 3B 9. Ahbram Liendo 2B

For the second consecutive night the Senators would get on the board first. Sam Petersen opened the game with a double and two batters later Branden Boissiere, who is having a monster last two weeks, would bring him around. Portland would answer in the 3rd inning and score two runs on an error by Senators third baseman Devin Ortiz. The Senators wouldn’t wait long to come back and tie it. In the 5th Cortland Lawson would double with 2 outs, a wild pitch would advance him to 2nd base, Branden Boissiere would walk and Kervin Pichardo drove in the tying run to lock the game at 2. Sens would have 4 walks on either side of a Sam Brown pop out and bring in the go ahead run to make it 3-2. They’d add another off the bat of Cortland Lawson who singled scoring TJ White. Portland would come punching right back in the home half of the 6th on a Brooks Brannon 2 run single to once again tie the game at 4. In the Top of the 7th Lomavita would double setting the stage for Sam Brown to launch one into the right field seats to put the Senators up 6-4. The lead wouldn't hold. Two batters into the home half of the 7th, Will Turner would crush a ball to right center, after a Nate Baez walk, to tie the game up at 6. The Sens would score the eventual winning run on none other than a Branden Boissiere single to score Lawson. At the time, this run in no way seemed like it would be the knock out punch. In a game that each squad kept trading punches and every time the Sens tried to knock out the Sea Dogs they answered. The Sea Dogs would put in position player Matt Fraizer to pitch the 9th inning. He would walk Lomavita, allow a single to Sam Brown, a TJ White walk and Sam Petersen would come to the plate to deliver the knock out punch, finally, in the top of the 9th. He would single on a line drive to center to score Lomavita and Sam Brown putting the Sens up 9-6. The Sea Dogs would not go easily as they would bring 6 batters to the plate in the inning and load the bases before Miguel Bleis ended the game grounding into a force out. Sens would hold onto beat Portland in a wild 9-6 Game 4 and guarantee themselves at least a split of the series.

On Deck…

The Senators and Sea Dogs will play the finale of their 6 game set tomorrow afternoon at Delta Dental Park. Riley Maddox takes the ball for the Sens and will be making his 4th start and 5th appearance overall in a Senators uniform. Riley has won 2 of those 4 appearances. He struggled a bit the last time out against Reading only getting through 4 innings, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits, walking 3 and striking out only 3. The Sea Dogs will counter with RHP Gage Ziehl. Ziehl is 5-3 on the year. Ziehl had an exceptional June but has taken a bit of a step back in July. Tomorrow’s finale will be a matinee game with first pitch coming at 1 o’clock.