Four Homers Pace Thunder Past Portland; Castillo & Pinder Rejoin Team

PORTLAND, ME - Four thunderous home runs on an afternoon where Trenton starting pitcher Nik Turley allowed just two runs in five innings were enough to lead the Thunder past the Portland Sea Dogs, 9-4, in the penultimate game of the regular season Sunday at Hadlcok Field.

Prior to the contest, the Yankees announced that shortstop Ali Castillo and reliever Branden Pinder had been promoted to Trenton from Class A-Advanced Tampa. Shortstop Carmen Angelini was placed on the team's disabled list with a left ankle sprain and LHP Caleb Smith was transferred to Tampa.

Facing the No. 5 prospect in the Boston Red Sox organization, Henry Owens, Trenton established the tone early. The second and fourth batters of the game (Ramon Flores and Gary Sanchez) homered to stake starting pitcher a 2-0 lead before he took to the mound.

Turley went out on the Hadlock Field mound in front of 7,368 fans and tossed four shutout innings before allowing a pair of runs in the 5th. Turley gets credit for the win which is his 11th of the season-surpassing the 10 wins he posted in 2012.

The other two home runs blasted by the Thunder came off the bats of Reegie Corona (5) and Ben Gamel (1). The homer by Gamel was the first in his Double-A career and was the highlight in a game in which he finished 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, a home run and a walk.  

Castillo and Pinder each played for Trenton earlier in the season and are each expected to be a park of the team's playoff roster. In 46 games as a Thunder, Castillo batted .218 with no home runs and 22 RBI. He was hitting .234 in 73 games with Tampa. 

Pinder made 19 relief appearances earlier at the beginning of the season for the Thunder and went 1-1 with five saves and a 6.29 ERA. His numbers improved greatly with Tampa, going 1-2 with a 3.49 in 21 appearances (five starts).

The regular season concludes Monday with a 1:00 p.m. matinee game against the Portland Sea Dogs at Hadlock Field. RHP Scottie Allen (2-0, 1.59) pitches for the Thunder against RHP Jeremy Khert (2-3, 4.33) for Portland. Trenton will use the ballgame as a final tune-up before the Eastern League East Division Championship Series against the Binghamton Mets beginning Wednesday at ARM & HAMMER Park. Tickets are available for Game 1 and Game 2 of the series by going towww.trentonthunder.com/tickets or by calling (609)394-3300. Radio coverage of Monday's game on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and online begins at 12:45 p.m.

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