EL1 Trenton Thunder

Thunder Bats Baffled in Reading

Published on August 17, 2019 under Eastern League (EL1)
Trenton Thunder News Release


READING, Pa. - A Brian Navarreto homer was the only offense the Thunder could muster Saturday night in a 7-1 loss to the Reading Fightin Phils at FirstEnergy Stadium.

The loss was just the second in 10 games for the Thunder (29-28, 67-56), who managed just five baserunners in the game.

Navarreto led off the third inning with a home run into the left field picnic area, his first homer in a Thunder uniform. The blast snapped a six-game hitless streak for the catcher and gave the Thunder a 1-0 lead against Reading starter David Parkinson (10-7).

Thunder starter Albert Abreu, rebuilding his pitch count in just his second start since returning from injury, held the Fightin Phils (34-24, 72-52) scoreless over his first three innings of work but left in the fourth after allowing a leadoff single. Will Carter (1-2) took over in relief and struggled with command, loading the bases on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. After a strikeout, Carter walked Cornelius Randolph to force in the tying run, and Arquimedes Gamboa and Jose Gomez followed with consecutive RBI-singles to put Reading in front, 3-1.

Josh Stephen hit a two-run homer off Thunder left-hander Trevor Lane in the fifth inning, and Lane surrendered an additional run in the seventh, as Mickey Moniak tripled off the wall in left-center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Alec Bohm. Another RBI-single by Gomez off Braden Bristo in the eighth capped the scoring for Reading.

Parkinson struck out eight batters over six innings, walking only one and scattering three hits. Garrett Cleavinger threw two hitless innings of relief, and Addison Russ pitched a scoreless ninth, working around a one-out walk to Wendell Rijo.

Chris Gittens struck out in each of his four at-bats for the Thunder, ending a 13-game on-base streak, just one shy of matching his season-high. Ben Ruta went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles for the only Thunder hits aside from Navarreto's home run.

Your Thunder conclude their road trip on Sunday at 2:15 p.m. against the Fightin Phils. RHP Shawn Semple (0-2, 5.40) will start for the Thunder, and RHP Adonis Medina (6-5, 4.39) will go for Reading. Pregame coverage begins at 2 p.m. on 920 AM The Jersey or online at TrentonThunder.com/Broadcast.

Check out the Trenton Thunder Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Eastern League Stories from August 17, 2019


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central