EL1 Trenton Thunder

8th Inning Rally Thwarts Brilliant Outing from Abreu

Published on May 14, 2019 under Eastern League (EL1)
Trenton Thunder News Release


HARRISBURG, PA - The Harrisburg Senators scored five times in the eighth inning to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 6-3 lead and an eventual 6-4 win over the Thunder on Tuesday night at FNB Field.

After the Senators grabbed the game's first run on an RBI double from Ian Sagdal in the first inning, Albert Abreu settled in for one of his best starts of the season. Abreu retired 13-of-the-next-15 batters he faced to get through five innings on 75 pitches. Abreu worked around a two-out walk in the sixth inning to complete his second start of six innings, one-run allowed, on the season.

Abreu set a season-high with eight strikeouts and allowed five total baserunners in his outing. It was the sixth quality start thrown by a Thunder starter this year.

The Thunder held a 3-1 lead for much of the ballgame thanks to a big swing from Kyle Holder in the fourth inning. Mandy Alvarez began the one-out rally with a walk and advanced to third on a double from Matt Lipka. After Brandon Wagner was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Holder came to the plate with two outs and lined a double to the wall in right-center scoring three runs. Holder finished his night at the plate 2-for-4 with a season-high three runs batted in.

After a scoreless seventh inning from Jose Mesa Jr., the Senators offense rallied in the eighth. After a fly out from Luis Sardinas to begin the inning, Hunter Jones reached on a throwing error by Kyle Holder and advanced to second. Luis Garcia worked a walk following the error and Ian Sagdal singled in a run to make it 3-2.

Drew Ward then flied out to left for the second out of the inning and the Thunder turned to lefty Trevor Lane to try to get the final out of the frame. Lane, however, allowed both inherited runners to score on a double by Chuck Taylor to surrender the lead. Rhett Wiseman worked a walk after the go-ahead double and Tres Barrera plated two key insurance runs with a double to right, pushing the Senators ahead to a 6-3 lead.

The Thunder had a golden ninth inning opportunity with a lead off single by Jorge Saez and a one-out single from Rashad Crawford. Hoy Jun Park then hit a rocket line drive off the glove of 1B Ian Sagdal to plate Saez and advance Crawford to third. Just one pitch later, Senators reliever Joan Baez induced a double play ball off the bat of Ben Ruta to seal the 6-4 decision.

Park and Crawford combined to go 5-for-8 at the top of the Thunder order. Mandy Alvarez went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game with the Thunder in 2019.

Your Thunder complete their road trip on Wednesday morning at 10:30am against the Senators. RHP Deivi Garcia (1-1, 4.00) will start for the Thunder, LHP Ben Braymer (2-1, 3.00) will go for Harrisburg. Pre-game coverage begins at 10:15am on 920 AM The Jersey and online www.TrentonThunder.com/Broadcast.

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Eastern League Stories from May 14, 2019


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