They Call Him Melky

(PR) (Trenton, NJ) – Melky Mesa’s two-out RBI single in the bottom of the eighth snapped a tie score and propelled the Trenton Thunder past the Richmond Flying Squirrels, 3-2, Tuesday night in front of 5,174 fans at Waterfront Park. The Thunder (40-28) opened a seven-game homestand with their third straight win and moved a season-high 12 games above the .500 mark.
With the score tied 2-2 in the eighth, Richmond reliever Tom Vessella (2-1) walked leadoff batter Abraham Almonte and was lifted in favor of Daryl Maday. Jose Pirela sacrificed Almonte to second, but David Adams flew out to center for the second out of the inning.

Richmond then elected to walk Zoilo Almonte to face Mesa, who grounded the first pitch he saw from Maday into left field scoring Almonte from second base for the go-ahead run. Ryan Flannery then came in and tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his seventh save in eight opportunities.

Ricky Orta (1-0), just added to the Trenton roster before the game, earned the victory despite allowing one run in two innings of relief. The right-hander, who missed most of the past two seasons because of injury, garnered his first win since 2009. Mikey O’Brien started and allowed one run on four hits in six innings of work.

Luke Murton homered and went 3-for-4 to lead Trenton’s seven-hit attack. Juan Perez had two of Richmond’s five hits.

The Thunder and Flying Squirrels continue the series Wednesday night, with Trenton left-hander Vidal Nuno (2-1, 0.33) slated to start against righty Chris Heston (6-2, 1.00). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm. Limited tickets are available by contacting the Thunder box office at 609-394-3300 or online at http://www.trentonthunder.com.

–THUNDER–

Marshall DL’d, Orta Added

(PR) (Trenton, NJ) – The Trenton Thunder, Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, announced Tuesday that RHP Ricky Orta has been transferred to the team from the Short-Season A Staten Island roster. RHP Brett Marshall has been placed on the disabled list with left leg bursitis.

Orta, 27, was signed by the Yankees on June 5 as a minor league free agent. Originally a fourth-round draft pick by the Seattle Mariners in 2006 out of the University of Miami, Orta has been injured for most of the last two seasons. He had Tommy John surgery in 2010 that kept him out of action for the season, then a shoulder injury in 2011 while pitching for the Rays organization that limited him to four games.

Marshall leads the team in wins with seven and has a 2.99 ERA

Pitching Matchups vs. Richmond

6/19: TRE Mikey O’Brien vs. RIC Craig Westcott, 7:05 PM
6/20: TRE Vidal Nuno vs. RIC Chris Heston, 7:05 PM
6/21: TRE Adam Miller vs. RIC Mike Kickham, 7:05 PM

The coverage plan for this series is to do two of the three games…hopefully, I’ll be able to see Mikey O’Brien in person for the first time. I missed his first two home starts…The game I’m definitely doing is Wednesday’s, because that’s certainly got the most intriguing pitching matchup. Nuno and Heston have combined to allow ten earned runs over 107 2/3 innings (1 in 27 1/3 for Nuno and 9 in 80 1/3 for Heston) but neither are considered to be prolific prospects in their respective organizations.

Mike Kickham, however, is considered the Giants’ 20th best prospect according to Baseball America…Can’t help but wonder if Heston is putting himself in line for big league consideration similar to how Eric Surkamp did it with his breakout Eastern League season in 2011…San Francisco’s top two prospects, outfielder Gary Brown and catcher Tommy Joseph, are expected to play for the Flying Squirrels. Former Yankees great Bucky F–king Dent is scheduled to make an appearance on Wednesday…I will be covering three out of the four games against Portland following the Richmond series, all except the day game and all for The Trentonian. In addition, I will be making my maiden voyage to Portland to cover the games up there on June 30 and July 1.

Mike Ashmore, mashmore98 AT gmail.com