PORTLAND — For knuckleball pitcher Charlie Haeger, Tuesday night could have gone completely in the wrong direction.

Catching him was Dan Butler, who never before caught a pitcher. Haeger, a free-agent pickup from a month ago, has seen struggles on the mound throughout the season.

But Haeger overcame those potential probles with dominance, as the Sea Dogs beat the Akron Aeros 9-2 in front of 6,811 fans at Hadlock Field.

The win gave Portland four wins in its last six games, a positive sign for a team in need of positive news. The Sea Dogs are 49-66 on the season, and are in fourth place in the Eastern League Northern Division.

Haeger pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on two hits, and striking out a season-high nine batters.

“With the exception of the first inning and beginning of the second, I think I settled in there,” Haeger said. “I think I settled into the ballgame there in the second inning and just got in the flow in the game, threw consistent strikes.”

Haeger has had an up-and-down career in baseball. He spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues, but had significant trouble early this season, posting a 7.74 ERA for the Tacoma Rainiers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, who promptly dropped him last month before the Boston Red Sox signed him and placed in Portland.

Haeger has been impressive so far in Portland, going 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA and 18 strikeouts in three starts.

As unpredictable of a pitch as the knuckleball is, Haeger is never truly sure when the pitch will work.

“I think there’s times where I’ve got it tonight, and my release point is pretty consistent,” Haeger said. “Then there’s times where you’ll lose it for a hitter or an inning and you fight to try to get it back. Tonight it felt like I had a pretty good grasp of it.”

Working his first game behind the plate at Hadlock, Butler went 2 for 4 with a double.

“He did a (heck) of a job, he really did,” Haeger said. “I threw some pretty good (knuckleballs) in there tonight for strikes that he had no trouble catching whatsoever. That was one of the more impressive catching performances I had ever seen.”

Butler said he was nervous at first but quickly grew confident in his ability to catch the knuckler.

“It was very, very interesting, but it was fun,” Butler said. “The first couple of innings were a struggle, it was a little different, with the atmosphere and my first home game, but as the game settled in it got easier.”

The Aeros took advantage of Haeger early in the contest, scoring the first run of the game in the first inning, as Jordan Henry scored on a sacrifice fly by Juan Diaz to give Akron a 1-0 lead.

Portland Sea Dog outfielder Alex Hassan has batted .167 in the past 10 games, and was looking for a way out of a mini-slump. He found it going 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double and four RBIs.

Hassan’s offensive output has added to an already impressive season. A 22-year old product out of Duke University, Hassan entered the game hitting .286 with eight home runs and 46 RBIs. He was selected as an Eastern League All-Star last month.

The Sea Dogs added three runs in the third inning, thanks to mental lapses by the Aeros. Ryan Khoury led the inning off with a strikeout, but reached first on a passed ball on the play. Hassan followed by smacking a fastball off the Maine Monster in left field for a double. Hassan was followed by designated hitter Mark Wagner, who slammed a line drive into centerfield, which was misplayed by Henry, who ran in on the hit, allowing the line drive to go over his head, giving a two-run triple to Wagner and the Sea Dogs a 2-1 lead.

Portland third baseman Will Middlebrooks lengthened the lead with an RBI single immediately following Wagner’s hit, giving the Sea Dogs a 3-1 lead after one inning of play. Akron cut into the Sea Dogs lead in the second, when Nick Weglarz scored on a sacrifice fly from third off the bat of Karexon Sanchez, bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of Portland. Portland was able to add to its lead in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI single from Matt Spring, plating Hassan from second base and giving the Sea Dogs a 4-2 lead.

Hassan put an exclamation point on the Sea Dogs lead in the fifth inning, launching a fastball over the Monster on a solo home run, giving Portland a 5-2 lead. It was the first home run for Hassan since June 29, when he blasted a walk-off home run to seal a 4-3 win over the New Britain Rock Cats.

Hassan added to his impressive evening by blasting his second homer, and 10th of the season, over the Monster again in the bottom of the sixth. The three-run shot gave Portland an 8-2 lead.

Portland outfielder Ronald Bermudez added the final run of the game, plating Matt Spring with an RBI single in the seventh inning.

Wagner was not to be out done as he went 4 for 5 at the plate, including three RBIs.

Kyle Fernandes pitched two scoreless innings to close the door on the Aeros.

The Sea Dogs are back in action tonight, hosting the Aeros at 7 o’clock.

Short Hops: The Sea Dogs made three moves prior to Tuesday’s game. Bermudez was sent from Triple-A Pawtucket to Portland. He started the contest in center field, and went 1 for 4 on the day with an RBI. Haeger was activated from the temporary inactive list, and infielder Heiker Meneses was assigned to High-A Salem. Pitcher Junichi Tazawa was promoted to Pawtucket.

Former Sea Dogs catcher Juan Apodaca was on the bench for Akron on Tuesday night. He is currently on the disabled list with a broken toe. Apodaca played with the Sea Dogs from 2008-2010.

— Contact Dave Dyer at 282-1535 ext. 318 or follow on Twitter @Dave_Dyer.