BINGHAMTON, NY – The Trenton Thunder struck for the first two runs in the ballgame, but Binghamton stormed back and pulled away down the stretch in a 6-3 victory over the Thunder Friday night.
Before 3,995 fans at NYSEG Stadium, the Thunder got off to a strong start against Binghamton starting pitcher John Gant and struck for a pair of runs in the 2nd inning. With a 3-2 count on Tony Renda, Gary Sanchez stood at second base and got a jump on Gant’s offering and took off for third. He slid in safely as ball 4 was issued to Renda and as catcher Xorge Carillo tried to throw him out, the throw sailed into left field and allowed Sanchez to score for a 1-0 Thunder lead. A few batters later, Renda scored on a Cito Culver RBI single to make it 2-0.
Binghamton would score six of the final seven runs in the game en route to victory, but with the Thunder trailing 4-2, Ali Castillo delivered a homerun to left field. Leading off the 6th inning, Castillo showed bunt on a big curveball from Gant and pulled back as strike 1 was called. The next pitch was also a curve and Castillo launched his first homer of the season to pull the Thunder back to within a run.
However, as the game neared the finish line, the B-Mets slowly added to their lead and the Thunder never brought the tying run to the plate in the 9th inning against closer Jon Velasquez.
Trenton drops to 51-41 on the season, after getting to 11 games above .500 for the first time all season Thursday. With victories by Reading and New Hampshire, the Thunder are 1.0 games ahead of the Fightins for first place in the East Division and 2.5 games clear of the Wild Card with Binghamton and New Hampshire in a tie for third place.
The Trenton Thunder and Binghamton Mets return to action Saturday at NYSEG Stadium in the third game of a four-game series. The Thunder send RHP Joel De La Cruz (1-1, 3.14) to the mound against Binghamton RHP Robert Gsellman (3-5, 4.31) for the scheduled 7:05 p.m. first pitch. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on 91.3 FM and online at www.trentonthunder.com.
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