TRENTON, NJ – Eddy Rodriguez’s base hit off the glove of Altoona’s Edward Salcedo in the bottom of the 12th inning completed a 4-3 walk-off victory for the Thunder at ARM & HAMMER Park on Tuesday night.
Cito Culver led off the 12th with a walk and Greg Bird (3-for-5, RBI, R, BB) followed him with a double down the right field line. After Altoona opted to walk Gary Sanchez, Jhondaniel Medina retired Mark Payton and Dan Fiorito to keep the bases loaded with two out. Eddy Rodriguez, making his first at-bat of the night, lined a hard groundball off the glove of Salcedo to score the winning run.
The Thunder offense had plenty of opportunity to take a lead prior to the 12th getting a baserunner in each inning after the fourth, but, they could only scratch out a run in the fifth when Jose Rosario hit his second home run of the year to take a 3-1 Thunder lead.
Altoona tied the game with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh. Adam Frazier and Max Moroff each recorded run-scoring base hits off Cesar Vargas to bring the game to a 3-3 tie.
The Thunder pitching staff got strong efforts from Brady Lail (ND, 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 4 K) and Nick Goody (2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 5 K) as they held their opponent to three runs or less for the fifth time in the last six games played.
With the win, the Thunder are in sole possession of first place of the Eastern League’s East Division for the first time since April 23. Tuesday also marked the first time the team has played in consecutive extra inning games since August 28 and 29, 2013 both against the New Britain Rock Cats.
Your Thunder will continue their four-game series with the Altoona Curve on Wednesday at 7 p.m. It’s our Batdog Celebration where fans can bring their dog to the game for free and the first 1,500 fans, age 18 and up, will get Dog Dental Treats – presented by Fetch 4 Pets. Tickets can be ordered online at Trentonthunder.com/tickets or by phone at 609-394-3300.
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