Game 65 – Connecticut Defenders @ Trenton Thunder
June 12, 2008
Waterfront Park – Trenton, NJ
Pitching Matchup: TRE Jason Jones (8-1, 2.22) vs. CON Joey Martinez (2-5, 2.05)
Starting Lineups:
Connecticut
1 – Copeland
2 – Haines
3 – Ishikawa
4 – Klink
5 – Martinez-Esteve
6 – Wald
7 – Maroul
8 – Richardson
9 – Rojas
Trenton
1 – Pena
2 – Jackson
3 – Curtis
4 – Gonzalez
5 – Ehlers
6 – Tabata
7 – Pilittere
8 – Malec
9 – Corona
Pre-Game Notes: Spent about 15 minutes talking to Tom Wilson for a series of features similar to what you saw with Scott Aldred.
Kevin Russo is set to see a specialist tomorrow to determine the course of action for his apparent facial fractures.
I asked Alfredo Aceves to show me how he throws his cutter, since he gets an ungodly amount of movement on it. It seems a lot of it has to do with the pressure that he puts on the ball with his pointer and middle fingers.
Tony Franklin indicated that the team expects to add a pitcher at some point next week.
It’s U.S. Army Night, so the teams are wearing camoflage jerseys, and therefore will be wearing different numbers in many cases.
Pete Abraham is reporting that J.B. Cox will miss three weeks with a shoulder injury. I wonder if he changed his delivery a bit after the TJ surgery, and it put more stress on his shoulder than it did his elbow.
Bronx Liason did an interview with The Star-Ledger’s Dan Graziano regarding the Yankees that you may want to check out…
Radio Links: Click here for the links to each team’s broadcast.
Live Box Score: The MILB.com direct link is here.
Around the Eastern League: For scores from around the EL, go here.
In-Game Updates (LIVE from the ballpark): Travis Ishikawa took Jason Jones deep to right to give Connecticut a 2-0 lead in the first.
Dave Maroul takes JJ deep to left, 3-0 in the 2nd.
After the top of the 4th, it’s still 3-0, Defenders.
3-0, heading into the bottom of the 7th. This game is heavy on the boring, light on the exciting.
In-Game Photo Gallery:
Eladio Rodriguez
Julius Matos
Carlos Mendoza
Chris Malec
Edwar Gonzalez
Reegie Corona
Ramiro Pena
Colin Curtis
Cody Ehlers
Kevin Russo
Eric Wordekemper
Jose Tabata
Austin Jackson
Joe Muich
Michael Gardner
Steven Jackson
Jason Jones
P.J. Pilittere
Alfredo Aceves
Mark Melancon
Back row: Rodriguez, Aceves, Corona, Gonzalez
Front row: Mendoza, Pena
Jones
The bullpen walks shoulder to shoulder
Travis Ishikawa
In-Game YouTube Videos: Jason Jones VIDEO, Travis Ishikawa HOME RUN VIDEO
Final Score: 3-0, Defenders.
Post-Game Notes: Complete game out of JJ, I guess they wanted to save the bullpen since they’re short an arm.
23 straight scoreless innings for the Thunder. First time swept since July 23-25 of 2007.
Thunder Thoughts: How do they get swept by the Defenders? The Thunder have beaten better teams all season long…but this is a rough one to take.
Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com
June 12, 2008 at 5:44 pm |
Regarding Cox, there seems to be some diagreement between Brian Cashman and Mark Newman.
According to Pete Abraham, who spoke to Cash, it’s going to be 3 weeks.
Tyler Kepner spoke to Newman, and here’s what he had to say: When the Yankees placed reliever J.B. Cox on the disabled list Wednesday without specifying a reason, it did not seem to be a good sign. But in talking just now to Mark Newman, the team’s senior vice president for baseball operations, it seems to be just a minor problem.
Cox, a top prospect at Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, has tendinitis in his right shoulder. Newman said it was only supposed to sideline Cox for four or five days, but because Class AAA allows for a seven-day disabled list, the Yankees put him there to give Scranton an extra reliever while he’s down.
“It’s a short-term deal,” Newman said by telephone from the Dominican Republic. “It’s not something to worry about.”
Even so, General Manager Brian Cashman wrote in an e-mail message, the Yankees expect Cox to miss about three weeks.
Cox, 24, is 1-1 with a 0.73 earned run average in 10 games with Scranton.
June 12, 2008 at 5:47 pm |
I guess it all depends on how much time he misses. Could be someone being misinformed, could be someone lying…who knows at this point.
June 12, 2008 at 5:51 pm |
Upper management can be so shady! haha
June 12, 2008 at 6:43 pm |
I heard a rumor Ehlers is on the verge of being released, have you heard if there is any truth to this?
June 12, 2008 at 7:28 pm |
Mike, I take it that you still haven’t heard of anyone getting promoted for the Thunder to take over Cox’s roster spot. Any rumblings, or players not in attendance? (If Tabata’s not there, I know it doesn’t mean anything…lol)
June 12, 2008 at 7:30 pm |
Typo. Should have said “from the Thunder”.
June 12, 2008 at 8:01 pm |
He’s hitting .202, so I’d imagine stuff like that would be going around. I personally haven’t heard anything…and really, I wouldn’t hear anything like that. That’s more of an organizational thing than a Thunder thing.
Have not heard anything about bullpen moves, especially considering the bullpen is short an arm to begin with. Everyone’s here…
June 12, 2008 at 10:10 pm |
Mike,
What was your opinion of Alfredo Aceves and his upside {he does look older then 25}?? Who would you compare him to of recent Thunder pitchers??
June 12, 2008 at 11:57 pm |
He doesn’t really remind me of anyone, to be honest. I thought he was too good for the Eastern League when I saw him. I’d be very curious to see what he does in Scranton, because I think hitters are overmatched against him here.
June 13, 2008 at 12:20 am |
Do you see Jason Jones going on to the next level and being successful? He seems like a beast, his ERA actually went up after throwing a complete game.
And what’s up (or not) with the Thunder offense lately? They’ve been shutout twice in a row now.
June 13, 2008 at 12:24 am |
This is Jason’s second full season at Double-A, and keep in mind he spent part of 2006 here as well. Realistically, he should be doing this well.
I think the real test for him would be at Scranton. JJ tends to pitch to contact, and I’m not sure how well that would translate up there.
No clue on the offense. It’s not like the Defenders are shutting down the rest of the league. 23 straight scoreless innings flat out sucks though, said the reporter who strays away from sugarcoating.
They had just as many hits as CT did tonight (8 ) but they couldn’t convert when they had chances to do so. Long-term, I don’t expect this to be an issue…but right now, it’s been brutal to watch.
June 13, 2008 at 12:28 am |
Definitely a tough week to watch some ball games, but the pitching has been pretty stellar!!!
Great pics, Mike!!!
June 13, 2008 at 12:29 am |
Didn’t screw up a single caption, either!
June 13, 2008 at 12:31 am |
Very proud. Did you ask yet?? Saw you hanging out front afterwards for a bit.
June 13, 2008 at 12:38 am |
Was waiting for my ride, and enjoying some lovely bug bites under the lights. After that game was definitely not the time for any sort of fun story…if you remind me before the next homestand, I’ll have seven games to forget until you remind me down the right field line a half an hour before game time haha.
June 13, 2008 at 12:52 am |
Mike,
You said Alfredo Aceves reminds you of no one you have seen pitch for Trenton?? How about major leaguer? Also, do you think he is 25? Looks about 32 to me. Is his stuff better then Kontos or Marquez? Could you see this guy being a guy who can be a find or a 3A at best pitcher??
June 13, 2008 at 1:04 am |
Maybe Livan Hernandez minus the slider and plus a cutter with more velocity. Aceves throws harder than I think people realized, but he doesn’t rely on his velocity (he touched 92 the other night). Hernandez only throws mid to high 80′s or so, so he has to rely more on movement.
I mean honestly, that’s probably a crappy comparison…but nobody else really comes to mind at the moment.
He looks older, but Greg Oden looks like he’s about 45, so I don’t know. Until someone shows me otherwise, the guy is 25.
I think his stuff is better than Kontos and Marquez…but again, the guy was pitching in the Mexican equivalent to Triple-A and has been a pro for eight seasons now, so I’d expect that to be the case.
I think he has the potential to be a find, but I really think — and I know I say this about a lot of guys — that the true test is at the next level for him.
June 13, 2008 at 8:18 am |
I need to see more of Aceves to really see what he’s got. But so far, he has been quite fine, thank you.
Jones is flying under the radar again. Complete game, 3 runs, gets a few Ks, and has a 15-7 GO/AO ration, which is better than very good. I changed my opinion of him. He needs to move up to Scranton. He and Marquez should switch places. Jones is the better pitcher right now.
If he was a lefty, I would say he should be seriously considered for NY. He’s doing that well. And coming off a fine season in 2007.
June 14, 2008 at 8:01 am |
Wheres the pictures of the army recruits who were sworen in??
June 14, 2008 at 6:14 pm |
That’s one of those things I think you’d have to go to the Thunder website (http://www.trentonthunder.com) to see. Pre-game festivities — regardless of significance, and those were certainly significant — aren’t really something I focus on.