BANGOR – The depth of the center field fence at the Winkin Complex seems to be a mystery. What is evident is that takes a big shot to clear the wall.

Bangor Lumberjacks slugger Derry Hammond hit one that got over the fence in Wednesday night’s game to lift the ‘Jacks past the Quebec Capitales 10-8. But the impressive hit – a grand slam, actually, in the seventh inning – may prove to be even bigger as Bangor continues its playoff push.

Hammond’s slam, his 20th homer of the year, helped Bangor cut into Quebec’s lead in the Northeast League’s Northern Division.

The Lumberjacks are now within a game of the Capitales and are still tied with the North Shore Spirit, which edged Brockton 8-7 in 10 innings.

With the playoff race in full swing, the Lumberjacks knew they couldn’t go away quietly despite a five-run deficit early.

“We never give up,” Hammond said. “We knew if we’re down runs we have confidence in our pitchers and we can put runs on the board quickly. We had to capitalize on our chances with runners on.”

Which was what the ‘Jacks hadn’t done early in the game. They stranded 11 baserunners going into the seventh inning and were down 8-5.

Initially the seventh looked like it was going to end quickly as Quebec pitcher Michael Hoyt got the first two batters of the inning on a groundout and a flyout. But the baserunners started to pile up again as Mike Davis singled, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Rolando Bello’s single to center field.

Brad Hargreaves then singled to right and Kazuhiro Kohno walked to load the bases.

Hammond, the No. 4 batter in the lineup, was facing a 2-2 count when Hoyt offered up a fastball.

“I guess he was trying to sneak it by me, and I was lucky enough to get the good part of the bat on it,” said Hammond, who is second in the league in homers. “It was to the deepest part of the park and I had my doubts for a minute, but once I looked at it traveling out toward the fence, I knew it was gone.”

Hammond also hit an RBI double in the fourth to help the Lumberjacks chip away at Quebec’s early lead. The Capitales scored three runs in the second and four more in the third.

Bangor pounded out 15 hits. All nine players in the lineup had at least one hit and scored at least one run.

But the ‘Jacks did strand 12 runners in the game.

“There were chances for us to get a couple more [runs] and I thought that was going to come back and haunt us, but that’s the way we’ve been playing lately,” Bangor manager Kash Beauchamp said. “We keep battling and battling.”

Paul Powell posted a double, two singles, and one RBI, and Brad Hargreaves singled twice and drove in a run.

Ben Fox held on to earn his first win for the Lumberjacks, pitching 4 1/3 innings of one-hit, one-run ball with two walks and three strikeouts. John Boker picked up his second save.

Benoit Emond led Quebec with a double, two singles, and three RBIs. Hoyt dropped to 4-5 with the loss.

The teams will face off again tonight at 6:30.

LUMBERJACKS 10, CAPITALES 8

Quebec (25-10) Bangor (24-11)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Emond, rf 3 3 2 3 Bello, 2b 5 1 1

Tomlinson, cf 4 0 2 1 Hargreaves, c 4 1

Hopper, 3b 4 0 2 3 Kohno, cf 3 1 0

Lantigua, 1b 4 0 0 0 Hammond, lf 5 1 5

Melo, 2b 4 1 0 0 Burke, 1b 4 1 0

McNabb, lf 4 1 2 0 Garcia, rf 5 1 0

Morton, dh 4 2 1 0 Tranum, dh 4 1 1

Delfino, ss 3 1 1 0 Powell, ss 5 1 1

Quigg, ss 2 0 0 0 Davis, 3b 4 1 0

Lepine, c 5 0 0 0

Totals 37 8 10 7 Totals 39 10 15 9

Quebec 034 010 000 ? 8

Bangor 021 110 50x ? 10

E?Emond; Kohno, Powell, Uhl; LOB?Quebec 10, Lumberjacks 12; 2B?Emond, Tomlinson, McNabb; Hammond, Burke, Powell; HR?Hammond (20); SB?Garcia

Quebec IP H R ER BB SO

Dunn 5 9 5 5 5 6

Hoyt (L, 4-5) 1 2/3 4 4 4 1 2

Waroff 1 1/3 2 1 1 1 2

Bangor IP H R ER BB SO

Uhl 2 2/3 9 7 7 5 5

Fox (W, 1-0) 4 1/3 1 1 1 2 3

Rohlfing 1 0 0 0 1 1

Boker (S, 2) 1 0 0 0 0 0

Rohlfing faced one batter in the 9th

WP?Hoyt; Uhl, Fox; BK?Fox; T?3:37; ATT?1,489