EL1 Trenton Thunder

Thunder Drop Third Straight Game

Published on August 21, 2018 under Eastern League (EL1)
Trenton Thunder News Release


After taking a fourth inning lead, the Thunder bullpen allowed the Hartford Yard Goats to slip away in a 7-3 loss on Wednesday night in front of 7,093 fans at ARM & HAMMER Park.

The loss was the third in a row for the Thunder (68-59), who missed out on the opportunity to gain a game on the first-place New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Thunder got a leadoff single from Wendell Rijo and a Brandon Wagner walk. After a strikeout and a lineout, Jhalan Jackson drove a pitch from Yard Goats (58-66) starter Evan Grills to the left field wall, plating both runners for a 2-1 Trenton lead.

The Thunder would not score again off Grills, who struck out six batters across six innings. His counterpart, Thunder right-hander Trevor Stephan, matched his double-A career-high with seven strikeouts and allowed just four baserunners over five innings.

The one-run lead disappeared in the sixth, as Sam Hilliard delivered a game-tying RBI-triple to the right field wall off reliever James Reeves, who then surrendered a go-ahead, two-run homer to the next batter, Brandon Bednar.

Hartford added three more runs on four hits in the seventh inning off David Sosebee to pad its advantage to 7-2. Jackson gave Trenton its final run with an eighth-inning RBI-double off Brian Moran.

Jackson and Rijo led the Thunder with three hits each, with the former driving in all three Trenton runs. Bruce Caldwell went 2-for-4 with a walk to extend his on-base streak to a season-high 14 games.

Left-hander Trevor Lane held Hartford scoreless over the final two innings in relief, allowing just one hit.

With the loss and a rainout of the Reading Fightin Phils game, the Thunder's magic number remained at seven.

Your Thunder travel to Reading, Pennsylvania on Wednesday to open a two-game series against the Reading Fightin Phils at 7:15 p.m. RHP Jonathan Loaisiga (3-1, 4.44) will start for the Thunder, and RHP Tyler Viza (2-4, 3.35) will go for Reading. Pre-game coverage begins at 7 p.m. on 920 AM The Jersey or online at TrentonThunder.com/Broadcast.

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Eastern League Stories from August 21, 2018


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