PORTLAND — Two pitches. Two mistakes. Two home runs. One wacky play.

That’s all it took for the Akron Aeros to beat the Portland Sea Dogs 3-0 on Wednesday night in front of 5,122 fans at Hadlock Field.

The win snapped a two-game winning streak for the Sea Dogs, who are now 49-67.

The first of Akron’s two home runs came from right-fielder Ben Copeland, who smacked a solo home run over the right-field fence off tough-luck loser Brock Hutzinger in the fourth inning. Left-fielder John Drennen added to the output as he blasted a home run over the wall in right centerfield off reliever Josh Fields in the seventh inning.

Brock Hutzinger had his second consecutive strong outing for the Sea Dogs. He went 5 2/3 innings, allowing one run on four hits, while striking out five batters and walking two.

Hutzinger also pitched well in his start against the Bowie Baysox on Aug. 4, going six innings, allowing two hits on three runs while striking out nine. Life hasn’t been wine and roses for Hutzinger much of this season, as he entered the game with a 5-9 record with a 6.63 ERA in 20 starts. He gave credit to his fastball for his recent resurgence.

“I’ve just been locating my fastball in and out,” Hutzinger said. “Tonight I didn’t have as much of luck with the offspeed stuff. Didn’t know these hitters as well. Just keeping the ball down and away, making them hurt me.”

Hutzinger had retired nine consecutive batters heading into the fourth inning. Copeland lofted a solo home run over the right-field fence to give the Aeros a 1-0 lead.

“It was a breaking ball, either a slider or a curveball,” Copeland said. “I was able to stay on it.”

The Sea Dogs put pressure on the Aeros in the bottom of the inning, as right-fielder Mitch Dening stepped up to the plate with two outs and runners on first and second, but Dening lined out to second baseman Karexon Sanchez, ending the inning.

Hutzinger recovered nicely from Copeland’s home run. He ran into trouble in the fifth inning, walking two batters, but got out of the jam by inducing a fly ball out from Sanchez to keep the score at 1-0 in favor of Akron. He gave up two hits in the sixth with two, and was lifted for Fields, who promptly induced a fly ball out from Akron first baseman Raul Padron. Fields gave up the home run to Drennen in the seventh, but struck out two batters in the inning and finished his first home performance by going two innings, allowing the one run on just the one hit.

The story offensively for Portland was a lack of clutch hitting, as the Sea Dogs left 19 runners on base in the contest. Portland had its greatest opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh inning, but with two outs and runners on second and third, left fielder Alex Hassan, who hit two home runs the night before, struck out and kept the game at a 2-0 score in favor of the Aeros.

Strikeouts were also a problem for Sea Dogs hitters, as each of the nine hitters in the starting lineup struck out at least once. As a unit, the Sea Dogs struck out 15 times in the game.

Akron starter Paolo Espino was impressive, going five innings, allowing on runs on four hits while striking out seven batters. His reliever, Eric Berger, was just as impressive, going two innings, striking out three batters.

A play from the realm of the weird was thrown into the mix in the ninth. After giving up an infield single to Akron center fielder Jordan Henry, Sea Dogs catcher Dan Butler hit relief pitcher Cesar Cabral in the head with an errant throw, allowing designated hitter Nick Weglarz to score from second base, sealing the 3-0 score.

The incident was a first for many, including Copeland.

“I’ve seen it where guys are stealing second and they throw the ball to the pitcher, but I’ve never seen it that close,” Copeland said. “It didn’t look good.”

Cabral finished the inning, but Portland scored in its final at-bats, as Cory Burns struck out two batters to earn the save in the bottom of the ninth.

The Aeros and Sea Dogs finish their series today at noon. T.J. McFarland gets the start for Akron, and Chris Balcom-Miller takes the hill for Portland.

NOTES: Two moves were made to the Sea Dogs roster before the game. Infielder Reynaldo Rodriguez, who is on the 7-day disabled list, was assigned to the GCL Red Sox on a rehab assignment. Pitcher Caleb Clay was also put on the disabled list with back inflammation”¦

Wednesday night’s game was the 300th game played by Ryan Khoury as a member of the Sea Dogs. Khoury is second on the all-time list, as Izzy Suarez has the record with 304 games played. Khoury went 1 for 4 on the day.

Entering the contest, the Sea Dogs led the Eastern League in eight different categories: batting average (.273), hits (1,050), runs scored (591), doubles (242), RBIs (551), total bases (1,641), slugging percentage (.427) and on-base percentage (.346)”¦

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