Castillo’s 4-Hit Night Sparks Thunder

Published

June 2, 2015

BINGHAMTON, NY – The Trenton Thunder (28-24) and Binghamton Mets (26-25) traded blows in a see-saw game, before Trenton hung on for a 6-4 victory to begin their series at NYSEG Stadium.Offensively buoyed by Ali Castillo who went 4-for-5 with three RBI, a run scored and a stolen base, the Thunder had separate leads of 1-0, 2-0 and 4-2 that were all erased by a resilient Mets attack which outhit the Thunder 12-9.

The deciding point in the game came in the top of the 8th inning when Ali Castillo batted with runners at second and third base with two outs against B-Mets lefty Adam Kolarek in a tie game. With Mark Payton at third base and Cito Culver at second, Kolarek whistled a wild pitch to the backstop to bring home Payton to put the Thunder ahead 5-4. Castillo’s RBI single past the dive of shortstop Gavin Cecchini brought home an insurance run for the bullpen in the latter innings.

Johnny Barbato allowed a pair of runs in his outing for the game to become tied. He exited with the potential go-ahead run at third base in a tied game with one out as Cesar Vargas came out of the bullpen. Vargas blew away Josh Rodriguez and Dustin Lawley to end the threat and strand a potential go-ahead run just 90 feet from home plate.After a scoreless bottom of the 8th inning by Vargas, he turned the baseball over to Nick Goody. Goody locked down his second save of the season by striking out the side and lowering his ERA to 1.26 on the season.

For the second time this season the Thunder are four games above .500 (April 23rd, 9-5) after rattling off a fourth-straight win. Jake Cave went 1-for-4 with a walk to extend his on-base streak to 20 consecutive games. Mark Payton made his Double-A debut and went 0-for-3, but reached on a walk and an error, drove home a run on a groundball and scored two of Trenton’s six runs on the game.

The Thunder and Mets return to action Wednesday with a scheduled 6:35 p.m. first pitch. LHP Miguel Sulbaran (3-3, 4.05) is expected to start for the Thunder against RHP Gabriel Ynoa (2-3, 4.72) for the Mets. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:20 p.m. on 91.3 FM WTSR and www.trentonthunder.com.