PORTLAND — Ryne Lawson hasn’t been the most fortune-kissed hurler on the Portland Sea Dogs staff.

Nor ”“ and his record will bear this out ”“ has been the most successful.

Wednesday, however, Lawson was both lucky and superb in helping the Dogs to a 9-0 thrashing of the Altoona Curve, before a soldout Hadlock Field throng of 7,368.

Lawson pitched six scoreless frames of five hit ball, and while his record improved to a still-woeful 3-9, he has plenty of reason to feel good about this and other recent outings.

“They’ve been my three best starts of the year, pretty much,” said Lawson. “It’s been a little bit about command. But really it’s kind of a decision I made after the All-Star break. The first half was not really good at all.”

The righthander is 2-1 in those outings, with just five earned runs allowed in 16 innings.

It’s a far cry from those nights when he was tagged for eight earned runs ”“ it’s happened three times this year ”“ and couldn’t find his way out of the early innings.

“It comes down to a decision I made,” said Lawson, who credited former Sox pitcher Bob Tewksbury, now the team’s sports psychologist, with giving him what he called a mental kick in the butt. “It’s (a decision) I should have made early in the season. Just go out and compete.”

Lawson wasn’t the only one competing against the Curve.

The heart of the Dogs batting order ”“ Jorge Jimenez, Jon Still, and Juan Apodaca ”“ each had two hits, with Jimenez plating two runs with an eighth inning triple.

“When you’re out there throwing,” said Lawson, “you can’t really think about run support. If you’re up 5-0, (you) have to pitch the same as if it’s a 0-0 game.”

Not only was Lawson supported at the plate, he benefitted from some nifty plays turned behind him, too.

The most pivotal came with two out in the top of the third, when the Dogs’ Jason Place cut down Altoona’s Ray Chang at the plate to keep matters scoreless.

Portland snapped the stalemate in the bottom of the fourth, when they plated four runs and drove Curve starter Kyle Bloom from the mound.

Bloom loaded the bases with none out, after giving up singles to Apodaca and Luis Exposito, followed by a walk to Yamaico Navarro.

The next Dog up, Place, worked a four pitch walk that brought in Apodaca with the first run.

Exposito came in when Matt Sheely grounded into a double play, but it was a costly throwing error by Altoona shortstop on a grounder by Ryan Kalish that allowed two more runs to score, and put the Dogs ahead 4-0.

However, the way Lawson was throwing, one run would have been enough.

“He’s got good stuff,” said Portland manager Arnie Beyeler. “When he throws strikes and gets ahead, he’s good. When he gets behind and he’s got to elevate, he gets whacked. It’s that simple.”

Portland relievers Dustin Richardson and Chris Province handled the final three innings without a hitch.

CHIN MUSIC: The teams were slated to play a midday (12 noon) “getaway” tilt, today. The Bowie Baysox will follow the Curve into town Thursday (7:05 p.m.) when RHP Blake Maxwell (3-7, 5.67) will throw against Bowie RHP Tim Bascom (2-4, 3.67)”¦The Baysox, of course, will provide the opposition for Portland in Saturday’s “Futures at Fenway” tilt. Now in it’s fourth year, “the Futures” event has become a “circle date” on the calendars of fans and Red Sox prospects alike. Outfielder Jason Place, who was recently promoted to Portland, is looking forward to getting his first taste of “Fenway Fever”. “We’re focused on trying to get into the playoffs, right now,” said Place, who was Boston’s first round draft choice in 2006, “but obviously it’s going to be awesome. I’ve never played in a game there. So I’m excited about it. Playing on the same grass as Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski is just one of those out of body experiences. It’s great that they allow us to do that.” The twin-bill will also feature the Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox ”“ featuring a host of former Sea Dogs ”“ against the Norfolk Tides”¦With one of those ex-Dogs, OF Josh Reddick, not coming back to Portland, the Sox promoted OF Daniel Nava, who had been at High-A Salem. Nava, was hitting .339 with the SalemSox, and led the California League in hitting last year with a .341 average.

— Contact Dan Hickling at dhickling@journaltribune.com.