South Jersey Baseball:
Thunder Blank Rock Cats, 6-0

Friday, April 28, 2006

By Bill Cook
Trenton Thunder Director of Public Relations

(Trenton, NJ) - Two run singles by LF Vince Fasion (2nd Inning) and C Omir Santos (8th Inning), along with 5 1/3 shutout innings from the bullpen, led the Thunder to a 6-0 win over New Britain on Friday night. A paid crowd of 6,752 watched the Thunder picked up theri second straight win.

Trenton (5-14) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 2nd Inning as they loaded the bases against Rock Cats starter Justin Jones. Faison then looped a single to right field that scored 1B Shelley Duncan (double) and SS Caonabo Cosme (single) for the early lead. Jones (2-1) allowed two runs in six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts.

The Thunder made that early lead stand up, despite a wierd night from starter Steven White. White left after 3 2/3 innings due to his pitch count. He allowed four hits and walked four, but didn't allow a run. White got out of jams in the 2nd and 3rd Innings before being lifted in the fourth. Charlie Manning followed with three shutout innings of relief. Manning (2-0) allowed one hit and one walk in relief with three strikeouts. T.J. Beam finished up the night ith 2 1/3 shutout innings for his first save.

The Thunder put the game away with four runs in the eighth off reliever Chris Schutt, who started the innings with back-to-back walks. A double by 3B Kevin Howard scored RF Bronson Sardinha for a 3-0 lead. Santos, mired in a 3-for-42 slump to start the season, then ripped the first pitch into left field for a two-run single and a 5-0 lead. Faison capped off the night with a sacrifice fly for the sixth Trenton run.

New Britain (7-11) hurt themselves. They couldn't take advantage of seven walks by Thunder pitchers, leaving 12 runners on base in the game. They were 2-for-17 in the game when a runner was on base.

The series continues on Saturday at 1:35 PM (WBUD 1260-AM, CN 8). Tyler Clippard (0-4, 4.42) starts for the Thunder looking for his first win against New Britain's Errol Simonitsch (1-1, 3.38).

Notes

- The shutout was the second of the year for the Thunder, who have now outscored their opponents, 41-6, in their five wins.

- Shelley Duncan collected three hits in the game... his first 3-hit game of the year.

- Manning, a reliever, lead the Thunder staff in wins.