MANCHESTER — Red Sox stars of today and tomorrow couldn't beat the Fisher Cats on the Fourth of July, thanks to a walk-off home run by Kevin Howard in the 11th inning.

The Fisher Cats scored three runs in the ninth inning to force extra innings and pulled off the improbable comeback 11-10 win on Howard's two-run homer at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

A season-best crowd of 8,544 watched Carl Crawford and Jacoby Ellsbury play for the Portland Dogs, not to mention sizzling prospect Jackie Bradley Jr., who had four hits in his first-ever game at Manchester.

Dan Butler homered to give the Sea Dogs an 8-5 lead in the ninth inning, and New Hampshire responded with doubles by Brad McElroy, John Tolisano and Brad Glenn in the ninth-inning comeback. Howard's scorching grounder eluded Portland third baseman Marquez Smith, allowing the Fisher Cats to tie the game.

More heroics from Butler, this time a two-run single off Matt Daly, gave Portland a 10-8 lead in the 11th. New Hampshire again erased the deficit with four hits, capped with a first-pitch bomb from Howard — last year's playoff hero — against Portland reliever Jason Urquidez (1-2).

Daly (2-4) worked three innings for the win, dropping the Sea Dogs (34-51) into last place of the Eastern Division. The Fisher Cats improved to 34-49 with yet another thrilling win on Independence Day. Three years ago, Kyle Drabek tossed a no-hitter to beat New Britain.

Crawford went 2-for-4 and Ellsbury 1-for-5 on their big-league rehab assignments. Bradley went 4-for-6 with a hustle-double.

Video -- Carl Crawford talks about his rehab start:



Video -- Jacoby Ellsbury's postgame reaction: