Justin time

Justin Greene was not enjoying his evening.

An 0-for-5 effort with three strikeouts would put anyone in a sour mood.

But hey, there’s always the next at-bat.

Greene took advantage of his, clobbering a double to center field to give the Portland Rockets a 7-6 walk-off victory Wednesday over the visiting Fort Wayne Panthers.

“I’m just really proud of these guys,” said Portland manager Randy Miller, whose team has now won five straight. “This is about the youngest group we’ve put on the field at the same time, and they responded by just enough, by one run at the bottom of the ninth.”

Once in command, the Rockets (6-2) fell behind 6-5 as Fort Wayne (2-7-1) posted three runs in the seventh inning and two in the top of the eighth. They pulled even again in the bottom of the eighth, setting the stage for drama in the ninth.

No. 9 hitter Jake Hemmelgarn gave Portland a chance as he drew a one-out walk. That brought Greene back to the plate coming off of strikeouts in each of his previous two at-bats.

The Carmel product finally connected on one of his big swings, crushing the ball out of the reach of center fielder Joseph Kummik and allowing Hemmelgarn to score all the way from first base.

“It didn’t go well at the start,” said Greene. “I was hitting the ball hard, but not hitting it fair. So I just kept my approach, stuck with my guts and then got a pitch I liked up in the zone and took advantage of it.”

It wasn’t the prettiest night for either team, with the Rockets scoring two unearned runs while Fort Wayne gave up four unearned.

After falling behind 2-1, Portland seemed to take control in the bottom of the fourth inning when each of its first four batters reached base on two hits, a walk and a hit batsman. All four came around to score thanks to two more walks and a Fort Wayne error.

That lead held until the Panthers tallied three runs in the seventh inning and then took the lead thanks to a walk, a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly in the eighth.

The comeback was aided by the relief effort from Griffin Garwood, who tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings.

“He threw a lot of strikes, commanded the zone, mixed speeds really well,” said Fort Wayne coach Mike Tucker. “I thought he did a really good job for us, keeping us in it at that point, and then we did a really good job of rallying behind him.”

Portland’s Kasey Henderson drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the eighth and eventually came around to score the game-tying run on an Ethan Pittsford single to center field.

Malik Wirges reached base to lead off the Fort Wayne half of the ninth inning when the Rockets lost his pop-up in the lights, but reliever Payton Hurd retired the next three in a row to set the stage for the walk-off.

A pitcher by trade, Jay County High School product Chandler Jacks came through as the designated hitter. He walked and came around to score on each of his first two plate appearances — his second walk drove in a run — and later added a single.

“He does a good job,” said Miller. “He gets walks. He gets on base. He battles. He competes.”

Patrick Mills was 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI and narrowly missed a fourth-inning grand slam when his shot down the right-field line drifted foul.

The game also featured a highlight-reel sliding catch in foul territory by Fort Wayne left fielder Evan Huffman to close out the bottom of the sixth inning. And Portland had an eventful defensive fifth inning as it turned a 6-4-3 double play and followed it up by catching Garrison Brege attempting to steal home.

“I think we’re putting on a heck of a show,” said Miller. “We get a double play. We get a guy out stealing home plate. We hit almost a grand slam. There’s a bunch of excitement out here.”