The Result
Thunder - 8 to 5

Sea Dogs - Year-to-Date
26 wins - 31 losses

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Playing rightfield
Batting #3

At the end of the Game
0 hit from 2 at-bats - 3 x walks, 1 x run scored

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - two down
Ball - breaking ball - down and away
Ball - fast ball - low
Called strike - at the knees
Ball - fast ball - low and away
Ball - low and away
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings
Second at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Bases empty - one down
Called strike - fast ball - "appeared to be low but called a strike in this umpire's floating-strike-zone"
Ball - high
Ball - low
Ball - high
Ball - high
Walk
Went to third base on a hit
Scored on another hit
Third at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Runner at second base - two down
Ball - high
Ball - low
Called strike
Ball - low
Hit straight to the Thunder first-baseman
Out PO3
Fourth at-bat
Lefthanded pitcher
Led off the innings
Ball - outside
Ball - high
Called strike
Swing&miss - fast ball - "under the hands"
Hit into the hole on the left side but the third-baseman got over to cut it off
Out 5-to-3
Fifth at-bat
Righthanded pitcher
Runner at first base - two down
Ball - low
Ball - outside
Called strike - fast ball - "boy, that's a 'generous' strike as it appeared to be low and outside and Roneberg is saying something to the umpire"
Ball - low - "and Brett checked his swing"
Ball - fast ball - outside
Walk
Left stranded at the end of the innings

Heard during the game
(1) As Brett was coming in for his first at-bat, the commentator said "Brett went 0-for-4 last night but had three deep fly balls and he almost tied the game with one swing in the top of the ninth but the hit went foul by about ten feet"

(2) He also mentioned that "he is leading the Sea Dogs with 38 x RBI's and 12 x home runs"

(3) In the bottom of the second innings, the Thunder had the bases loaded with one down - the next batter hit a ball into shallow rightfield - and the commentator said "Roneberg had a long way to go but made a nice play with a running grab at shoe-top level and saved a run as the runner at third could not advance"

Email from Brett
N/A

Game Reports

Big innings cost Zink, Sea Dogs

Knuckleball pitcher Charlie Zink had control problems Tuesday night.
The result?
The Trenton Thunder had two big innings against Portland's starter and beat the Sea Dogs 8-5 before 4,992 at Mercer County Waterfront Park.

Zink walked a season-high eight batters and tied a season high by allowing eight earned runs on eight hits.

Trenton got to Zink (1-6) for four runs in the third and three in the fifth.

Starter Sean Henn (3-2) earned the win for the Thunder.

Zink has struggled in the second inning this season - Opponents are batting .364 against him while his ERA is 7.84.

Kevin Reese knocked in a run with an infield hit and Robinson Cano had a sacrifice fly to give the Thunder a 2-0 lead.
Mitch Jones followed with an RBI triple, and Andy Cannizaro's first hit of the season, a double inside the right-field foul line, chased home two more runs for a 5-0 lead.

Portland scored its first two runs of the series in the fourth when Mike O'Keefe doubled to score Brett Roneberg (walk) and Jeff Bailey (double).
Jones prevented a third run by throwing out O'Keefe trying to score on Kenny Perez's single to left.

The Sea Dogs added a run in the fifth when Jesus Medrano singled and scored on a double by Eric Johnson.

The Thunder bounced back with three runs in the bottom of the inning.
A sacrifice fly by Jason Grove scored Cano, who had tripled, before a two-run single by Reese drove Zink from the game.

NOTES
Sea Dogs starter Jarrett Gardner will make his Double-A debut today.
With Jerome Gamble on the disabled list with a sore right forearm, the Boston Red Sox promoted Gardner, a right-hander, from Class A to make the spot start.
Gardner was chosen by the Red Sox in the 19th round of the 2003 draft. He was 7-1 with a 1.54 ERA in Class A.
In another roster move, the Sea Dogs activated left-hander Colin Young, who is 0-0 with a 5.74 ERA in 11 appearances.
Closer Joe Nelson, who has been on the disabled list since Saturday with a right hamstring strain, is expected to return this weekend when Portland heads home to face the New Britain Rock Cats.
Nelson is 2-2 with 11 saves a 1.93 ERA in 20 appearances.

TRENTON TAKE SECOND STRAIGHT FROM PORTLAND 8-5
Thunder hitters collect eight walks and best knuckleballer Zink in the victory

Sean Henn pitched seven plus strong innings and Kevin Reese collected three RBI as Trenton outlasted Portland 8-5 Tuesday night in Eastern League Play.

The win was the third straight for the Thunder.

Henn (3-2) scattered seven hits and yielded four runs in a game that the Thunder jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never looked back.
He has worked into 8th Inning in back-to-back starts.
The win was his first since May 27th.

Trenton (28-26) took the lead in the second inning off of Portland knuckleball starter Charlie Zink (1-6).
Reese picked up his first RBI on a bases-loaded infield single with two outs scoring Robinson Cano.

In the third inning, Trenton tacked on four additional runs.
The key hits in the inning were an RBI triple by Mitch Jones and a two-run double by Andy Cannizaro.
Cannizaro connected on his first hit of the season for Trenton after missing the first two months of the year with a torn groin, and knocked in his first two RBI of the season.

After Portland (26-31) closed to 5-3, Trenton restored its five-run advantage with a three-run 5th Inning.
Cano tripled with one out and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jason Grove.
The triple was Cano's sixth of the year which ties him for the Eastern League lead in triples.
Zink then proceeded to walk the bases loaded with two outs.
Reese made him pay with a two-run single to extend the score to 8-3.

Zink struggled with his control all night long.
He walked a season high eight batters in four plus innings of work.

Portland's bullpen kept them in the game as Sea Dog relievers Bo Donaldson and Jason Howell retired the final 10 Thunder batters in order.

However, the Sea Dogs could not inch any closer than 8-5.

The Thunder will go for the sweep against Portland on Wednesday morning at 11:05 p.m. as Chien-ming Wang (2-4) will take on Jarrett Gardner (0-0).

SEA DOGS THUNDERSTRUCK IN TRENTON
Zink Struggles in 8-5 Loss

Kevin Reese drove in three runs with a pair of singles and Robinson Cano added two hits, a walk, two runs scored and an RBI as the Trenton Thunder topped the Portland Sea Dogs, 8-5 on Tuesday night.

Jeff Bailey went 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk and two runs scored and shared the Allied Home Mortgage Big Dog of the Game honors with reliever Bo Donaldson, who tossed a perfect 2-1/3 innings of relief.

Charlie Zink allowed eight runs on seven hits and a season-high eight walks in only 4.2 innings.
Zink fell to 1-6 on the season and his ERA rose from 4.62 to 5.40.

Mike O'Keefe and Kenny Perez added two RBI in the losing effort.

The Sea Dogs have dropped two games in a row and are now 3-1/2 games out of second place in the Eastern League North.

Sean Henn (3-2) pitched 7-1/3 innings of seven-hit ball for the win.

Jeremy Ward got the final out for his first save.

Eastern League Game Summary - Portland at Trenton

Kevin Reese went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs to lead the Trenton Thunder to an 8-5 win over the Portland Sea Dogs in Eastern League action.

Robinson Cano, Mitch Jones, and J.T. Stotts each scored a pair of runs for the Thunder, while Andy Cannizaro chipped in with two RBI.

Sean Henn (3-2) earned the win despite allowing four runs, seven hits and three walks.
Henn also struck out three in 7-1/3rd innings of work.

Jeremy Ward recorded his first save, tossing 1/3rd of an inning.

Charlie Zink dropped to 1-6 with the loss.
Zink got rocked for eight runs on seven hits and also walked eight batters in 4-2/3rd innings.

Mike O'Keefe and Kenny Perez each drove in a pair for Norwich.

Jeff Bailey had two doubles and two runs scored in the loss.

Trenton improved to 28-26, while Portland dropped to 26-31.

They'll face off again tomorrow at 11:05 AM (ET).

Cannizaro’s double keys Thunder victory

Andy Cannizaro got a little greedy, but it was hard to blame him.
It had been 284 days since the shortstop had a hit of any kind in any type of official game, a product of a torn groin that ended his 2003 season and led to an excruciatingly long rehab.

When you’ve been through that, getting thrown out at third base isn’t so bad.
Especially when it follows a two-run double.
Cannizaro sliced the third pitch of his at-bat with Portland knuckleballer Charlie Zink into the right-field corner.
That scored Mitch Jones, who tripled, and J.T. Stotts, who walked, to cap a four-run third inning that paced the Thunder to an 8-5 victory over the Sea Dogs last night at Waterfront Park.

"I was talking to Stotts on the bench and I was saying, ‘I’ve only played one game and three innings, but am I ever going to get a hit?’" said Cannizaro, who also started Monday.
"I left a few guys on in my first at-bat, but it was good to get a hit there and give us a lead early in the game."

The Thunder (28-26) never trailed in securing their hold on second place in the Eastern League North, meaning they would qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today.
They also moved two games above .500 for the first time since May 9.

Back then Cannizaro was still at the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa, Fla., two weeks away from even participating in scrimmages.
Yesterday he added a walk to go along with his double and was flawless in the field.
Cannizaro contributed a putout and eight assists, including a dazzling diving stop and throw in the second, in support of starter Sean Henn.
Cannizaro’s final assist, a flip to second baseman Robinson Cano with runners on first and second, ended the game.

"It was terrible," Cannizaro said of his rehab.
"I was pretty much stuck down there in Florida and trying to get my leg better so I could get back up here.
I wanted to play more than my body would let me."

Henn (3-2) had no physical breakdowns last night, but he lost his concentration in the middle innings.
He did not give up a hit to the first 13 Portland batters, facing just 10 through three innings.
But he surrendered five hits to the next eight batters, allowing the Sea Dogs (26-31) to rally for two runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to cut the Thunder lead to 5-3.

The bad stretch seemed to focus Henn, however, and he worked a scoreless sixth and seventh before turning the game over to newcomer Justin Kaye with one out and one on in the eighth and his team leading, 8-3.

"The problem with Henn is that he couldn’t establish anything but his fastball," manager Stump Merrill said.
"The second time through the lineup you have to make adjustments, and he didn’t establish his changeup until the seventh."

Henn, who allowed four runs on seven hits, largely agreed.
"The first three innings went pretty quick," Henn said.
"But after that I waited too long to change up my pitches. Luckily it didn’t hurt me too much."

For that Henn can thank the bottom of the order.
The bottom three of the Thunder lineup - Jones, Stotts and Cannizaro - went 2-for-3 against Zink, the Portland starter, with six walks, two RBIs and four runs scored.

Leadoff man Kevin Reese went 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs despite not hitting a ball out of the infield.
"I don’t think that’s ever happened before," Reese said.
"I was talking to Stump between innings and he said, ‘You haven’t hit the ball 100 feet and you’ve got three RBIs.’
"But it was a good win. Portland’s always been one of our rivals, and hopefully we can finish the sweep tomorrow."