PORTLAND – The Portland Sea Dogs run of three straight extra-quality starts came to an end, as did their three-game win streak, thanks to a quality start by Akron pitcher Rafael Perez.

Perez threw seven strong innings and scattered four hits to help lead the Eastern League southern division-leading Aeros past Portland 8-1 Friday night on a pleasant, clear night at Hadlock Field.

“Ever since bullpen [warmups], I felt like I had good stuff and my sinker was really good,” said Perez. “My ball sinks and moves so much, I was just focused on hitting the target wherever [catcher] Javier [Cardona] was setting up. I was just trying to fill up the zone with strikes.”

Perez filled up the zone with 55 strikes among his 85 pitches as he improved his record to 2-1 and Akron’s to 50-41. North-leading Portland is now 48-41.

“He threw his sinker for strikes. It’s that simple,” Dogs manager Todd Claus said of Perez. “He got 11 ground-ball outs and that’s the difference.”

Number eight hitter Cardona went 3-for-3 with a home run, double, single, walk and three RBIs to lead Akron’s offense.

“I was really patient on the pitches and I’ve been seeing the ball real good. I only swung at one pitch and that was the sixth one from him,” Cardona said, referring to Portland knuckleball starter Charlie Zink.

Cardona hit that sixth pitch high and deep down the left-field line, well over the Maine Monster green wall and nearly through the “Hit it Here” hole ringed by a tire on the metal Sullivan Tire sign. The ball clanged about a foot below the lower edge to barely miss a historic first and nearly earn Cardona a cash prize. It was the second straight homer given up by Zink in the third as Jon Van Every, who had two homers in Wednesday’s Eastern League All-Star game, hit a 400-foot shot to dead center.

Eight of Akron’s 12 hits came from the 6-7-8-9 slots in the lineup.

“Just because they’re at the bottom of the lineup, it doesn’t mean they’re any less of a hitter,” said Akron manager Torey Lovullo. “This was the first experience against a knuckleball for a lot of these guys, but they made good adjustments the second time around.”

Akron hit Zink hard in the third as only an exceptional play by center fielder David Murphy prevented Franklin Gutierrez from following up with a certain double and possible triple with one out. Gutierrez hit Zink’s first pitch to him for a screaming liner to deep center which Murphy made an over-the shoulder catch on at a dead sprint toward the wall. Eider Torres then belted a first pitch off the center field wall for a double, but was caught trying to steal second to stop further damage.

The Sea Dogs halved their deficit with one swing of the bat in the fourth as David Murphy ripped a 1-2 fastball from Perez about 400 feet to right center.

The Aeros finally knocked Zink off the mound in the fifth after he struck out leadoff hitter Pat Osborn. Van Every and Cardona then drew back-to-back walks before Ivan Ochoa’s flare down the right field line fell in for a single to seemingly load the bases. However, Brandon Moss picked up the ball and uncorked a wild throw home that sailed wide right and allowed both runners to score while Ochoa moved all the way up to third.

AEROS 8, SEA DOGS 1

Akron (47-42) Portland (48-41)

Player AB R H BI Player AB R H BI

Gutierrez, cf 5 0 1 1 Durbin, dh 4 0

Torres, 2b 5 0 1 0 Perez, 2b 4 0 0

Larkin, 1b 5 0 0 0 Murphy, cf 4 1 1

Mulhern, dh 4 1 1 0 Ramirez, ss 3 0 0

Francisco, rf 4 1 1 0 West, 1b 3 0

Osborn, 3b 4 1 2 1 Sandberg, 3b 2 0 0

Van Every, lf 3 2 2 1 Moss, rf 4 0

Cardona, c 3 2 3 3 Fulse, lf 3 0 0

Ochoa, ss 4 1 1 0 Concepcion, c 2 0 0

Totals 37 8 12 6 Totals 29 1 4 1

Akron 002 031 020 – 8 12 0

Portland 000 100 000 – 1 4 1

E-Moss; LOB-Akron 4, Portland 6; 2B-Torres, Mulhern, Cardona; HR-Van Every, Cardona; Murphy; DP-Akron 1; SB-Van Every

Akron IP H R ER BB SO

Perez, (W, 2-1) 7 4 1 1 3 4

Foley 1 0 0 0 0 1

Kleine 1 0 0 0 1 1

Portland IP H R ER BB SO

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

Sturge 1 2/3 4 1 1 0 1

Brooks 1 1/3 2 2 2 0 0

Pearson 1 2/3 1 0 0 0 1

HBP-Sandberg by Perez; PB-Cardona; T-2:39; ATT-6,486