Saturday, August 31, 2013

Thunder Fall Victim to Long-Ball, Sea Dogs 8-1


Thunder Fall Victim to Long-Ball, Sea Dogs 8-1
Three HR for Portland pace strong offensive night

PORTLAND, ME - The Thunder would have locked up an East Division Wild Card berth with a win Friday night, but the Portland Sea Dogs defeated Trenton 8-1 in front of 7,368 at Hadlock Field to keep the Thunder out of the playoffs for at least one more day.
With Trenton leading the Sea Dogs by 4.0 games with five games to play, a loss would have ended Portland's chance at catch the Thunder before the season ended. However, Portland scored a run in the 4th inning to take a 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 6th before widening the margin further with three runs in both the 6th and 7th.
Trenton pitching allowed three home runs on the night including two in the 6th inning by starting pitcher Mikey O'Brien. O'Brien drops to 7-8 on the season with the loss after allowing four runs- all earned- in 6.0 innings. He struck out six on the night and has now struck out 35 batters in his last 28.2 innings pitched.
Trenton scored a lone run in the ballgame in the top of the 8th inning when Ramon Flores doubled and Jose Pirela singled him home. Flores finished the night 2-for-4 and is now 7-for-16 in his last three games played.
With the win by Portland, Trenton's lead in the East Division Wild Card reduces to 3.0 games over the Sea Dogs and with Binghamton's 3-0 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, New Hampshire is eliminated from the playoff picture which leaves Trenton and Portland as the only two teams remaining still in contention for the Wild Card.
Trenton continues their final series of the regular season Saturday with a doubleheader at Hadlock Field against Portland featuring two, seven-inning ballgames separated by 30 minutes. Game 2 will begin at 5:00 p.m. and have RHP Shane Greene (7-4, 3.48) pitching for the Thunder against LHP Mickey Pena (1-0, 3.29) for Portland, with Trenton's LHP Caleb Smith (NR) making his Double-A debut against RHP Terry Doyle (1-5, 3.94). Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and streaming online begins at 4:45 p.m.

Being posted with permission from the Trenton Thunder organization. The original article can be seen HERE. 

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Sorry for the Capatcha... Blame the Russians :)