TRENTON, NJ – The Trenton Thunder fell to the Reading Fightin Phils 8-1 Thursday night, dropping all three games in a midweek sweep at the hands of their East Division rivals.
Starting pitcher Jaron Long was touched for one run over the first two innings before Reading sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run 3rd inning. By the time the attack ended, the Fightin Phils had a 6-0 lead with eight hits through three innings off Long. A run in the fourth inning knocked the righty from the game after 3.1 innings with seven runs allowed (five earned).
Trenton’s offense was held to just one run in each of the three games of the series, including Thursday night. The Thunder offense went just 14-for-93 in the series (.151 AVG) while Reading bats were 40-116 (.345 AVG). The lone run of the night for the Thunder came following Jake Cave’s second hit (2-for-4) which put runners at the corners with two outs in the sixth inning for Tyler Wade. The 20-year old who made his Double-A debut Wednesday night, singled through the right side to score Eddy Rodriguez after he began the inning with a double.
With the loss, the Thunder remain 3.5 games behind the Binghamton Mets for first place in the east division and fall to 3.0 games in back of Reading for the east division Wild Card.
The Thunder pile on the bus Friday morning and head to Binghamton to begin a three-game series with the B-Mets at NYSEG Stadium. The game begins a six-game roadtrip for the Thunder, with Friday’s first pitch beginning at 7:05 p.m. Pre-Game coverage begins at 6:50 p.m. on the Thunder Radio Network or online at www.trentonthunder.com.
