Unhappy homecoming

Here's a link to my game story in today's paper.
Trentonian staffers Eleazer Gorenstein and Josh Norris are at Waterfront Park tonight, and will have the coverage in tomorrow's paper.

Sens win 3-1

Lot of pitching. 

Not enough offense. 

The Thunder are now 4-4; Harrisburg is 5-2. 

More later. 

2-1 after 7 1/2

Hitters 9, 1, 2 due up for the Thunder in the eighth. 

2-1 after six

Jose Tabata's RBI sac fly drove in Reegie Corona, who had drawn a leadoff walk. 

Tim Bitttner came on to relieve Shairon Marist, an inning after David Robertson came in to relieve Dan McCutchen. 

No longer a no-no, or a shutout

Javy Herrera singled to center on a 1-1 pitch to lead off the sixth, breaking up the no-hitter.

But the Senators were not done. 

Ian Desmond tried to sacrafice Herrera to second, but McCutchen threw out Herrera at second.

The next hitter, however, came through for Harrisburg. 

Roger Bernadina doubled off the center field wall, scoring Desmond from first and giving the Sens a 1-0 lead. 

Duel brewin

Not to be outdone, Shairon Martis answered Dan McCutchen's 1-2-3 inning with one of his own, striking out Marcos Vechionacci on a nasty curveball down and away to finish the inning. 

No-no through five

Dan McCutchen needed just six pitches to get through a 1-2-3 fifth. 

He's thrown 69 pitches and allowed only one baserunner: a first-inning walk to Justin Maxwell. 

But he could use some help from his teammates, who haven't scored and only have three hits. 

Still cruisin'

I don't want to jinx anything, so let's put it this way. 

Through four innings, Dan McCutchen has allowed one baserunner, and that was a first-inning walk. 

He set down the Senators in order in the fourth, striking out Jorge Padilla to end the inning, in which he threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes. 

Hitters 3-4-5 due up this inning for the Thunder, who have no runs on three hits. 

Cut down at the plate

Ramiro Pena singled with two outs, and Austin Jackson followed with a double to the left-center field gap, but Ian Desmond's relay throw from Justin Maxwell was right on target, nailing Pena at the plate to end the inning and deny the Thunder what would have been the game's first run. 

Easy inning

Dan McCutchen got an out on his first pitch when he got Javy Herrera to pop out to first. 

He fell behind 3-0 on Ian Desmond, but came back to strike him out. Then he struck out Roger Bernadina on four pitches to finish his easiest inning yet -- one that cost him just 11 pitches. 

He's retired seven straight since walking Justin Maxwell in the first. 

No score after 2

The Thunder went down in order in the bottom the second and we're scoreless heading into the third. 

No score after one

Jose Tabata took a curveball to the opposite field for a double that one-hopped the right-field wall, but Colin Curtis struck out looking to end the inning, and the Thunder left a runner in scoring position. 

Shairon Martis, a 21-year-old righty from Curacao, was sharp, throwing 13 of his 16 pitches for strikes and striking out two. 

Sens nothin', Thunder comin'up

Dan McCutchen threw 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes in the first, surrendering only a walk to No. 3 hitter Justin Maxwell, and the Sens didn't score in the top of the first. 

Ramiro Pena is about to lead off the bottom of the first for the Thunder. 

Home opener

Good afternoon from Waterfront Park, where the Thunder are taking batting practice in preparation for tonight's home opener against the Harrisburg Senators. 

The Blog didn't make it to the Thunder's first road trip, which concluded with a 4-3 record after last night's 4-3 loss at Altoona. With that in mind, this is the first time we'll get to blog from the press box, and we'll do our best to keep you updated. 

First up, tonight's starting lineups: 

Senators (4-2)

1. Roger Bernadina, CF 

2. Ed Rogers, 2B

3. Justin Maxwell, LF

4. Jorge Padilla, RF

5. Luis Jimenez, 1B

6. Yurendel DeCaster, 3B

7. Andrew LeFave, DH

8. Javy Herrera, C

9. Ian Desmond, SS

Sharion Martis, P (0-0, 9.00)

Thunder (4-3)

1. Ramiro Pena, SS

2. Austin Jackson, CF

3. Jose Tabata, RF

4. Colin Curtis, LF

5. Matt Carson, DH

6.  Cody Ehlers, 1B

7. P.J. Pilittere, C

8. Marcos Vechionacci, 3B

9. Reegie Corona, 2B

Dan McCutchen, P (1-0, 0.00)

Comeback kids

The Thunder won their first game of the season in a pitcher's duel and picked up their second 'W' in a slugfest. 

For the first time yesterday, they pulled one out in come-from-behind fashion. 

Cody Ehlers' home run kick-started a three-run fifth inning and the Sons of Tony Franklin beat the Altonna Curve 3-2 to improve to 3-2. 

The wrap. 

The box score. 

Also including in the wrap is news about the Thunder's All-15 year team, which was released yesterday. 

The team, as voted by fans at www.trentonthunder.com: Phil Hughes, Tony Clark, Dioner Navaro, Kevin Thompson, Justin Pope, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlain, Brett Gardner, Scott Patterson, Chien Ming Wang, Carl Pavano, Ron Mahay, Corey Spencer, Tony Franklin, Nomar Garciaparra, Kevin Youkilis, Jeff Suppan, Joe Hudson, and Pork Chop Pough. 

Chase Wright (0-0, 3.00 ERA) gets the ball tonight for the Thunder. He'll be opposed by Curve lefty Kyle Bloom (0-1, 14.73). 

Bats come alive

After scoring three runs in the first three games of the season, the Thunder exploded for 13 runs on 14 hits yesterday, routing the B-Mets 13-7 to earn a split of their season-opening four-game series at NYSEG Stadium. 

Here's a the game wrap in today's paper. 

The box score. 

Next up: a three-game series beginning tonight in Altoona. The home opener is Thursday night against Harrisburg at Waterfront Park. 

Thunder win 2-0

Dan McCutchen pitched five scoreless innings, Colin Curtis hit a solo home run, and the Thunder beat the B-Mets 2-0 in the first game of today's doubleheader to improve to 1-1.

Game rained out

Tonight's game between the Thunder and the B-Mets has been postponed until tomorrow. 

The teams will play a doubleheader, with the first game starting at 1 p.m. 

Dan McCuthen and Bobby Parnell will still pitch the first game. George Kontos goes for the Thunder in the second game against right-hander Jose Sanchez. 

Interesting day

Interesting Opening Day in the Eastern League, with a lot of good pitching. 

Here's the view from Binghamton on the B-Mets' 2-0 win over the Thunder. 

And here's a story about the strange events that took place in New Britain, where once the power went on, Justin Masterson and the Sea Dogs shut down the Rock Cats. 

Also, the Yankees' most expensive minor league pitcher was perfect last night in the SWB Yankees' opener 

Dan McCutchen takes the ball tonight for the Thunder against Bobby Parnell. First pitch is set, weather permitting, for 7 p.m. from NYSEG Stadium. 

Here's a link that will get you to the radio feed, on which Steve Rudenstein has the play-by-play. 

Thunder lose 2-0

Chase Wright was good.
Jon Niese and the B-Mets' bullpen were better, shutting out the Thunder on Opening Day in Binghamton.
The box score.

Pitcher perfect

Couple of Opening Day links for you early risers. 

My story on Thunder lefty Chase Wright, who takes the mound tonight when the Thunder play the Binghamton Mets at NYSEG Stadium. 

And a story from the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin looking at the other side of tonight's pitching matchup: highly touted B-Mets lefty Jonathan Niese. 

. . . I'm not a sports TV critic, but my $0.02 is that Michael Kay and Paul O'Neill work pretty well together as the Yankees' play-by-play team on YES. 

Is it too much to ask for YES to stick with O'Neill (who'd get my vote) or just one of their other analysts instead of using a rotation that seemingly includes two dozen analysts?

Leading off

It's a little after 2 a.m. and it's unlikely many readers will read this post as soon as its up. 

But after a delay because of some technical issues, the Trentonian Thunder blog -- a cousin of the Rutgers football blog and college basketball blog -- is ready for its debut. 

And after the Thunder beat their Yankees organization cousins, the Scarnton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-2 in an eight-inning exhibition game at Waterfront Park, and the big boys in the Bronx beat the Blue Jays 3-2 in the last opener at the Old Stadium, what better time for a leadoff post than now? 

The Blog will follow the Thunder all year, from tomorrow's media day, to Thursday's season opener at Binghamton, all the way through the end of the regular season and possibly, if the Thunder can replicate their performance from last year's title run, well into the Eastern League playoffs. Similar to what we've done on the football and basketball (but especially basketball) blogs, we'll have live updates and insight from the press box whenever Internet connections allow it. 

Today's Trentonian has coverage by staff writers Josh Norris and George O'Gorman of last night's exhibition, along with an eight-page special section previewing the Thunder season. 

I skipped the game so I could write and edit some of the content for the preview, so it'd be especially appreciated if we sold as many of those babies as possible. 

I came across a lot of interesting information today while breaking down statistics on this year's members of the Thunder, but none of those numbers intrigued me as much as a factoid that came to mind about Trenton's center fielder: to my knowledge, Austin Jackson is the only player in baseball history whose first AND last names are state capitals. A quick search at baseball-reference.com didn't turn up any others, but if anyone can think of any, please let me know. 

With that, The Blog is calling it a night. Thunder media day is today (Wednesday) at 2 p.m., in advance of tomorrow's season opener, in which Chase Wright will take the mound for the Thunder. 

Unhappy homecoming

Here's a link to my game story in today's paper.
Trentonian staffers Eleazer Gorenstein and Josh Norris are at Waterfront Park tonight, and will have the coverage in tomorrow's paper.

Sens win 3-1

Lot of pitching. 

Not enough offense. 

The Thunder are now 4-4; Harrisburg is 5-2. 

More later. 

2-1 after 7 1/2

Hitters 9, 1, 2 due up for the Thunder in the eighth. 

2-1 after six

Jose Tabata's RBI sac fly drove in Reegie Corona, who had drawn a leadoff walk. 

Tim Bitttner came on to relieve Shairon Marist, an inning after David Robertson came in to relieve Dan McCutchen. 

No longer a no-no, or a shutout

Javy Herrera singled to center on a 1-1 pitch to lead off the sixth, breaking up the no-hitter.

But the Senators were not done. 

Ian Desmond tried to sacrafice Herrera to second, but McCutchen threw out Herrera at second.

The next hitter, however, came through for Harrisburg. 

Roger Bernadina doubled off the center field wall, scoring Desmond from first and giving the Sens a 1-0 lead. 

Duel brewin

Not to be outdone, Shairon Martis answered Dan McCutchen's 1-2-3 inning with one of his own, striking out Marcos Vechionacci on a nasty curveball down and away to finish the inning. 

No-no through five

Dan McCutchen needed just six pitches to get through a 1-2-3 fifth. 

He's thrown 69 pitches and allowed only one baserunner: a first-inning walk to Justin Maxwell. 

But he could use some help from his teammates, who haven't scored and only have three hits. 

Still cruisin'

I don't want to jinx anything, so let's put it this way. 

Through four innings, Dan McCutchen has allowed one baserunner, and that was a first-inning walk. 

He set down the Senators in order in the fourth, striking out Jorge Padilla to end the inning, in which he threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes. 

Hitters 3-4-5 due up this inning for the Thunder, who have no runs on three hits. 

Cut down at the plate

Ramiro Pena singled with two outs, and Austin Jackson followed with a double to the left-center field gap, but Ian Desmond's relay throw from Justin Maxwell was right on target, nailing Pena at the plate to end the inning and deny the Thunder what would have been the game's first run. 

Easy inning

Dan McCutchen got an out on his first pitch when he got Javy Herrera to pop out to first. 

He fell behind 3-0 on Ian Desmond, but came back to strike him out. Then he struck out Roger Bernadina on four pitches to finish his easiest inning yet -- one that cost him just 11 pitches. 

He's retired seven straight since walking Justin Maxwell in the first. 

No score after 2

The Thunder went down in order in the bottom the second and we're scoreless heading into the third. 

No score after one

Jose Tabata took a curveball to the opposite field for a double that one-hopped the right-field wall, but Colin Curtis struck out looking to end the inning, and the Thunder left a runner in scoring position. 

Shairon Martis, a 21-year-old righty from Curacao, was sharp, throwing 13 of his 16 pitches for strikes and striking out two. 

Sens nothin', Thunder comin'up

Dan McCutchen threw 12 of his 16 pitches for strikes in the first, surrendering only a walk to No. 3 hitter Justin Maxwell, and the Sens didn't score in the top of the first. 

Ramiro Pena is about to lead off the bottom of the first for the Thunder. 

Home opener

Good afternoon from Waterfront Park, where the Thunder are taking batting practice in preparation for tonight's home opener against the Harrisburg Senators. 

The Blog didn't make it to the Thunder's first road trip, which concluded with a 4-3 record after last night's 4-3 loss at Altoona. With that in mind, this is the first time we'll get to blog from the press box, and we'll do our best to keep you updated. 

First up, tonight's starting lineups: 

Senators (4-2)

1. Roger Bernadina, CF 

2. Ed Rogers, 2B

3. Justin Maxwell, LF

4. Jorge Padilla, RF

5. Luis Jimenez, 1B

6. Yurendel DeCaster, 3B

7. Andrew LeFave, DH

8. Javy Herrera, C

9. Ian Desmond, SS

Sharion Martis, P (0-0, 9.00)

Thunder (4-3)

1. Ramiro Pena, SS

2. Austin Jackson, CF

3. Jose Tabata, RF

4. Colin Curtis, LF

5. Matt Carson, DH

6.  Cody Ehlers, 1B

7. P.J. Pilittere, C

8. Marcos Vechionacci, 3B

9. Reegie Corona, 2B

Dan McCutchen, P (1-0, 0.00)

Comeback kids

The Thunder won their first game of the season in a pitcher's duel and picked up their second 'W' in a slugfest. 

For the first time yesterday, they pulled one out in come-from-behind fashion. 

Cody Ehlers' home run kick-started a three-run fifth inning and the Sons of Tony Franklin beat the Altonna Curve 3-2 to improve to 3-2. 

The wrap. 

The box score. 

Also including in the wrap is news about the Thunder's All-15 year team, which was released yesterday. 

The team, as voted by fans at www.trentonthunder.com: Phil Hughes, Tony Clark, Dioner Navaro, Kevin Thompson, Justin Pope, Robinson Cano, Melky Cabrera, Joba Chamberlain, Brett Gardner, Scott Patterson, Chien Ming Wang, Carl Pavano, Ron Mahay, Corey Spencer, Tony Franklin, Nomar Garciaparra, Kevin Youkilis, Jeff Suppan, Joe Hudson, and Pork Chop Pough. 

Chase Wright (0-0, 3.00 ERA) gets the ball tonight for the Thunder. He'll be opposed by Curve lefty Kyle Bloom (0-1, 14.73). 

Bats come alive

After scoring three runs in the first three games of the season, the Thunder exploded for 13 runs on 14 hits yesterday, routing the B-Mets 13-7 to earn a split of their season-opening four-game series at NYSEG Stadium. 

Here's a the game wrap in today's paper. 

The box score. 

Next up: a three-game series beginning tonight in Altoona. The home opener is Thursday night against Harrisburg at Waterfront Park. 

Thunder win 2-0

Dan McCutchen pitched five scoreless innings, Colin Curtis hit a solo home run, and the Thunder beat the B-Mets 2-0 in the first game of today's doubleheader to improve to 1-1.

Game rained out

Tonight's game between the Thunder and the B-Mets has been postponed until tomorrow. 

The teams will play a doubleheader, with the first game starting at 1 p.m. 

Dan McCuthen and Bobby Parnell will still pitch the first game. George Kontos goes for the Thunder in the second game against right-hander Jose Sanchez. 

Interesting day

Interesting Opening Day in the Eastern League, with a lot of good pitching. 

Here's the view from Binghamton on the B-Mets' 2-0 win over the Thunder. 

And here's a story about the strange events that took place in New Britain, where once the power went on, Justin Masterson and the Sea Dogs shut down the Rock Cats. 

Also, the Yankees' most expensive minor league pitcher was perfect last night in the SWB Yankees' opener 

Dan McCutchen takes the ball tonight for the Thunder against Bobby Parnell. First pitch is set, weather permitting, for 7 p.m. from NYSEG Stadium. 

Here's a link that will get you to the radio feed, on which Steve Rudenstein has the play-by-play. 

Thunder lose 2-0

Chase Wright was good.
Jon Niese and the B-Mets' bullpen were better, shutting out the Thunder on Opening Day in Binghamton.
The box score.

Pitcher perfect

Couple of Opening Day links for you early risers. 

My story on Thunder lefty Chase Wright, who takes the mound tonight when the Thunder play the Binghamton Mets at NYSEG Stadium. 

And a story from the Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin looking at the other side of tonight's pitching matchup: highly touted B-Mets lefty Jonathan Niese. 

. . . I'm not a sports TV critic, but my $0.02 is that Michael Kay and Paul O'Neill work pretty well together as the Yankees' play-by-play team on YES. 

Is it too much to ask for YES to stick with O'Neill (who'd get my vote) or just one of their other analysts instead of using a rotation that seemingly includes two dozen analysts?

Leading off

It's a little after 2 a.m. and it's unlikely many readers will read this post as soon as its up. 

But after a delay because of some technical issues, the Trentonian Thunder blog -- a cousin of the Rutgers football blog and college basketball blog -- is ready for its debut. 

And after the Thunder beat their Yankees organization cousins, the Scarnton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees, 3-2 in an eight-inning exhibition game at Waterfront Park, and the big boys in the Bronx beat the Blue Jays 3-2 in the last opener at the Old Stadium, what better time for a leadoff post than now? 

The Blog will follow the Thunder all year, from tomorrow's media day, to Thursday's season opener at Binghamton, all the way through the end of the regular season and possibly, if the Thunder can replicate their performance from last year's title run, well into the Eastern League playoffs. Similar to what we've done on the football and basketball (but especially basketball) blogs, we'll have live updates and insight from the press box whenever Internet connections allow it. 

Today's Trentonian has coverage by staff writers Josh Norris and George O'Gorman of last night's exhibition, along with an eight-page special section previewing the Thunder season. 

I skipped the game so I could write and edit some of the content for the preview, so it'd be especially appreciated if we sold as many of those babies as possible. 

I came across a lot of interesting information today while breaking down statistics on this year's members of the Thunder, but none of those numbers intrigued me as much as a factoid that came to mind about Trenton's center fielder: to my knowledge, Austin Jackson is the only player in baseball history whose first AND last names are state capitals. A quick search at baseball-reference.com didn't turn up any others, but if anyone can think of any, please let me know. 

With that, The Blog is calling it a night. Thunder media day is today (Wednesday) at 2 p.m., in advance of tomorrow's season opener, in which Chase Wright will take the mound for the Thunder.