Trenton Thunder ((Yankees)) @ Akron RubberDucks ((Indians)) RHP Dillon Tate (1-0, 1.50) vs. LHP Sean Brady (0-1, 6.23) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------------------------- Saturday April 14, 2018 • 2:05 PM • Game 9 of 140 • Canal Park • Akron, OH 2 LAST GAME:. 2018 Eastern League Standings Game 1: RHP Yefry Ramirez (7-3, 3.48) vs. RHP Conner Greene (4-5, 3.73) AKRON, OH --- Infielder Mandy Alvarez stole the show with a seventh inning to remember and Thunder pitching held the RubberDucks to x East Division W L GB Streak just two hits in a 2-1 win on Friday night at Canal Park. New Hampshire 6 2 -- L1 Trenton 4 4 2.0 W1 Trailing by a run, Alvarez started a rally for the Thunder with two outs in the seventh. Alvarez singled to center and found himself on third Binghamton 3 4 2.5 L4 base after a pair of walks from Akron's Matt Whitehouse. With a 3-2 pitch ready to be thrown home, Alvarez scampered down the third base Reading 3 4 3.0 L1 line and dove in headfirst to plate Trenton's first run of the night. The steal of home swung momentum into the Thunder's favor and helped Portland 2 5 3.5 L1 them to victory. Hartford 2 6 4.0 W1 Alvarez again put his imprint on the game in the next half inning, turning in a pair of excellent plays in the field. With a runner on first and West Division W L GB Streak lefty Caleb Frare on the mound, Alvarez made a sensational sliding catch in foul ground for the first out of the inning. After a fielders choice Altoona 5 2 -- W1 resulted in the second out, Alvarez was tested again with a line drive shot off the bat of Sicnarf Loopstock went off his glove into foul ground Bowie 5 3 0.5 L1 down the left field line. Alvarez recovered the ball and fired to Vince Conde to get Akron's Joe Sever, who was attempting to advance to third Richmond 5 3 0.5 W1 on the play, for the final out of the inning. Harrisburg 4 3 1.0 W2 The Thunder offense awoke in the top of the eighth. Gosuke Katoh singled to center and Chris Gittens quickly doubled him in with a line Akron 4 4 1.5 L1 drive shot to right-center. With a 2-1 advantage in hand, Frare and Joe Harvey combined to strike out the final five batters of the game and Erie 3 5 2.5 L5 finish off a victory to even the Thunder's record to 4-4 on the season. 2018 Monthly Report THUNDER CLAPS: 2017: NEVER A BETTER SEASON : The 2017 Thunder set the franchise record for best record and win percentage (.657) with a 92-48 record. April: 4-4, May: 0-0, June: 0-0, This came on the heels of a 2016 campaign in which the Thunder finished with the second-best record in franchise history at 87-55 (.613). The July: 0-0, August: 0-0, September: 0-0 Thunder held a lead at some point in 121-of-140 (86.4%) regular season games. Date Opponent Time/Result The team set multiple franchise records on the mound with marks in ERA (2.83) and shutouts (20). With a sub-3.00 ERA the Thunder became the 32nd team in Eastern League history (since 1957) and the first since Harrisburg in 1991 (2.97 ERA). A 2.83 ERA was the lowest in the Eastern 4/5 Richmond W 5-2 League-27 since West Haven in 1976 posted a 2.82 mark. 4/6 Richmond L 5-2 o The Thunder finished with a sub-3.00 ERA in 4-of-5 months, and the staff’s worst month (3.15) is lower than the best 4/7 Richmond W 6-2 month of nine EL squads: 2.55 – Binghamton, August // 2.61 – Trenton, May // 2.74 – Trenton, April // 2.86 – Trenton, July // 2.91 – Trenton, August // 2.99 – Altoona, April // 3.00 – Binghamton, July // 3.15 – Trenton, June 4/8 Richmond L 3-2 (10) 4/9 New Hampshire L 11-1 DRAWING A BLANK: The Thunder were shut out for the first time in 2018 on Wednesday night, falling 4-0 to New Hampshire while 4/10 New Hampshire W 10-4 collecting just four hits and going 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. The shutout, a three-man effort by the Fisher Cats' pitching staff, was 4/11 New Hampshire L 4-0 already the sixth of the season in the Eastern League. 4/12 FREE RIDE: The Thunder pitching staff leads the Eastern League with 46 walks, 12 more than runner-up and Reading. Trenton has issued an 4/13 @ Akron W 2-1 average of 5.8 walks per game, including averaging 8.5 free passes over the team's four losses. 4/14 @ Akron 2:05 PM POWER SURGE: Jhalan Jackson boasts a team-leading five extra-base hits and four home runs. His four homers come in a five game stretch to 4/15 @ Akron 2:05 PM start the year and place him in a four-way tie for second place in all of Minor League Baseball As a team, the Thunder are tied with Bowie for 4/16 @ Erie 6:05 PM the Eastern League lead with seven home runs. 4/17 @ Erie 6:05 PM EXTRA! EXTRA! Sunday’s game marked the Thunder’s first encounter with Minor League Baseball’s new experimental rule with placing a 4/18 @ Erie 6:05 PM runner on second base in extra innings. Richmond’s Aramis Garcia doubled tiebreaker runner Ryan Howard home from second in the top of the 4/19 @ Erie 12:05 PM 10th inning for the go-ahead run, and in the bottom half, after Vince Conde sacrificed Ben Ruta to third, the next two Thunder batters struck out, 4/20 Portland 7:00 PM leaving the tying run stranded at third. 4/21 Portland 1:00 PM HOMETOWN HERO: West Windsor Plainsboro South H.S. (NJ) product Ben Ruta is off to a strong start in his Double-A career. His .375 batting 4/22 Portland 1:00 PM average leads the team and is tied for third best in the Eastern League. 4/23 Harrisburg 7:00 PM EASTERN LEAGUE ALL-STAR CLASSIC RETURNS TO TRENTON: The 25th season in franchise history will be punctuated with ARM & 4/24 Harrisburg 7:00 PM HAMMER Park hosting an All-Star game for the third time in franchise history. Tuesday, July 10 will feature a special baseball game between 4/25 Harrisburg 10:30 AM the New York and Philadelphia Police Departments and the Case’s Pork Roll Home Run Derby. Wednesday, July 11 will see the East and West 4/26 face-off. More information is available at www.TrentonThunder.com/2018ASG 4/27 @ New Hampshire 6:35 PM 4/28 @ New Hampshire 6:35 PM Upcoming Probable Starting Pitchers: 4/29 @ New Hampshire 1:35 PM 4/30 @ Portland 6:00 PM Sunday April 15th @ Akron 2:05 PM RHP Will Carter (1-0, 3.86) vs. RHP Shao-Ching Chiang (1-0, 0.00) Monday+ April 16th @ Erie 6:05 PM RHP Brian Keller (0-1, 11.57) vs. TBA Tuesday April 17th @ Erie 6:05 PM RHP Erik Swanson (2-0, 0.00) vs. TBA W ednesday April 18th @ Erie 6:05 PM LHP Justus Sheffield (0-1, 3.60) vs. TBA #24 Dillon Tate 2018 Game By Game: 6’2” – 195 – Age: 23 (5/1/1994) Game Result Dec. IP H R ER BB K HR Pitches 4/7 vs RIC W 6-2 W 6.0 2 1 1 0 5 1 75/49 Born: Harbor City, CA Resides: Harbor City, CA * Also hit two batters, retired 12 in a row following 2nd inning single School: UC Santa Barbara Acquired: Trade, Texas (2016) 2017: Began season on DL (shoulder), made debut on 6/20 against Florida Fire Frogs, going 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 K… Struck out career-high 11 batters on 7/2 at Clearwater… Went 7+ IP in 3 of final 4 starts before call-up… 9 starts w/ Tampa: 6-0, 2.62 ERA, 58.1 IP, 48 H, 15 BB, 46 K (.221 BAA, 1.08 WHIP)… 2016: Acquired by the Yankees from the Texas Rangers on 8/1/16 with RHP Nick Green and RHP Erik Swanson in exchange for OF/DH Carlos Beltran… Combined with Single-A Hickory and Single-A Charleston to go 4-3 with a 4.70 ERA (82.1IP, 99H, 49R/43ER, 33BB, 70K) in 24 games (16 starts)… began the season with Hickory, going 3-3 with a 5.12 ERA (65.0IP, 78H, 39R/37ER, 27BB, 55K) in 17 games (16 starts)… made seven relief appearances for Charleston, going 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA (17.1IP, 21H, 10R/6ER, 6BB, 15K)… following the season, did not record a decision and posted a 3.86 ERA (9.1IP, 9H, 4ER, 1BB, 11K) in six games for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League… was an AFL Fall Stars Game selection… did not pitch in the game… 2015: In his professional debut, did not record a decision and posted a 1.00 ERA (9.0IP, 3H, 1ER, 3BB, 8K) in six combined starts with short-season Single-A Spokane and Single-A Hickory… started the season with Spokane, tossing 2.0 scoreless innings over two starts (0H, 3BB, 3K)… was transferred to Hickory on 8/14 and posted a 1.29 ERA in four starts (7.0IP, 3H, 1ER, 0BB, 5K)… following the season, was named the No.