EL1 Trenton Thunder

Five-Run Eighth Propels Altoona Past Thunder, 6-2

Published on August 20, 2012 under Eastern League (EL1)
Trenton Thunder News Release


(Trenton, NJ) - The Altoona Curve rallied for five runs after there were two outs and no runners on base in the top of the eighth inning to come back and top the Trenton Thunder, 6-2, Monday night at Waterfront Park. Seven straight batters reached on five hits, a walk and two errors as the Curve turned a 2-1 deficit into a five-run lead and ultimately hand the Thunder (73-55) their tenth loss in their last 13 games.

With a loss by Reading at Harrisburg, the Thunder's magic number to clinch a playoff spot dropped to 9. Second-place New Britain were in extra innings against Portland at the time of this recap after having pulled within 4.5 games of the Thunder in the Eastern Division standings with 14 games remaining.

With the Thunder leading 2-1 in the eighth, Graham Stoneburner allowed a two-out single to Ramon Cabrera and Stoneburner was pulled in favor of Josh Romanski (1-2). Romanski allowed a single to Andrew Lambo and a walk to Matt Curry to load the bases, and Ryan Pope was summoned in out of the pen to face Oscar Tejeda.

Tejeda hit a slow ground ball to shortstop and Addison Maruszak's throw was ruled just late at first base, an infield single that allowed the Curve to tie the game. The next batter Quincy Latimore grounded a clean two-run single to left field against Pope to plate two go-ahead runs. Jarek Cunningham then followed with an RBI infield hit to short on which Maruszak made a throwing error that allowed a second run to score and make it a 6-2 game.

Maruszak homered in the bottom of the fifth for Trenton to open the scoring. After Altoona tied it with a run in the sixth on Cabrera's RBI double, Adonis Garcia lined an RBI double to right in the bottom of the sixth to give the Thunder a 2-1 advantage.

Shaeffer Hall allowed only one run and five hits in 6.2 solid innings, striking out six and walking only one. Erik Turgeon (2-3) pitched two scoreless relief innings for the Curve to earn a win in his debut with the team.

The teams continue the three-game series Tuesday night with game two, as first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm. Trenton right-hander Brett Marshall (13-5, 3.12) is expected to start against Curve righty Jameson Taillon (NR). Limited tickets are available by contacting the Thunder box office at 609-394-3300 or online at www.trentonthunder.com. Radio coverage on 91.3 FM (WTSR) and also streaming online begins at 6:45 pm.

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Eastern League Stories from August 20, 2012


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