South Jersey Baseball:
Thunder Win Fifth Straight, Over .500 on Season

Sunday, May 8, 2005

By Dan Loney
Trenton Thunder Director of Broadcasting

The Thunder claimed their fifth win in a row with an 8-6 come-from-behind effort over altoona on Sunday afternoon. The win pushes Trenton (16-15) over the .500 plateau for the first time since April 9th.

The Curve (13-14) jumped out to a 6-2 lead off Trenton starter Matt Smith. They tagged him for six runs (four earned) on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings. The Thunder committed three errors behind him in the early parts of the game.

Trenton started their comeback off Curve starter Paul Stewart in the bottom of fourth with an RBI single by SS Andy Cannizaro to cut the deficit to 6-3. An RBI double by 2B Gabe Lopez (4 x 5, 2 RBI) and an RBI single by 3B Eric Duncan (2 x 3, RBI) broke the Thunder to within 6-5 in thr 5th Inning.

In the 6th Inning, RF Bronson Sardinha collected a two-out single, which was followed by a two-run homer from C Omir Santos, his third longball of the series, to put the Thunder ahead, 7-6. Kevin Thompson (3 x 4, HR, 4 R) followed with a double and scored on a two-base hit by Lopez for the 8-6 final score.

The second star for Trenton was their bullpen, which tossed 5 1/3 shutout innings of relief. Carlos Artiles (1-0) worked 3 1/3 innings to get the victory. Justin Pope pitched a scoreless 9th Inning for his 8th save of the year.

The Thunder begin a series with Reading on Monday. The first game will be played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia with a 7:05 pm first pitch. Ramon Ramirez will be recalled from Columbus (AAA) to start for Trenton. Chris Rojas 91-4, 4.85) goes for the R-Phils.