Who: Thunder vs. Portland Sea Dogs
When: Today - Wednesday; all games at 7:05 p.m.
Pitching Matchups:
Today: Thunder RHP Ivan Nova (2-1, 3.86) vs. Portland LHP Felix Doubront (2-2, 3.42) Tomorrow: Thunder RHP Ryan Pope (1-2, 5.47) vs. Portland RHP Junichi Tazawa (3-2, 3.34)Wednesday: Thunder RHP Alan Horne (0-1, 6.23) vs.Portland RHP Blake Maxwell (0-2, 9.15)
Thunder scouting report: For the first time the season, the Thunder finally have a little bit of momentum coming into a series. They took all three games from Binghamton, and showed the ability to hit for power. Jorge Vazquez had a pair of home runs, Reegie Corona had one, Jose Gil went deep and Colin Curtis hit triples on back-to-back days.

The streak vaulted the team from last place all the way to second place in the EL's Northern Division, just ahead of the Sea Dogs, so a good series this week would help greatly in distancing themselves from the pack.

Portland scouting report: This team is chock full of prospects, including first baseman Lars Anderson (#1 in Boston's system according to Baseball America), Josh Reddick (#5) and tomorrow's starter, Junichi Tazawa (#7). Despite the star power, though, Portland sits at just .500.

Reddick seems to be the team's leader so far, hitting .288/.644/1.002 with six home runs and a mystifying seven RBIs. Two-thirds of the center fielder's hits this season have been for extra-bases. Keep that up, and Jacoby Ellsbury -- steal of home and all -- will look mighty expendable.