Each Friday, Minor Matters will publish the Top Ten numbers from the season. These can be stats, players' numbers, whatever. As long as it's a number, it counts. The Thunder were just two wins from the Eastern League championship, so there's no shortage of material for this section.

No. 9 ...












What it means: The number of strikeouts the Thunder accrued during the season, tops in the Eastern League.

Why it's significant: It's the fifth consecutive time Trenton's hurlers have led the circuit, and their third-highest total in that span. Your team leader in punchouts was Lance Pendleton, with 111. He was promoted to Scranton at the beginning of August.

Some interesting numbers regarding strikeouts. Wilkins Arias had the same number as Andrew Brackman (70), and he did it in 19 fewer innings. Josh Schmidt had one more than Brackman, and Schmidt pitched just 60 2/3 innings, compared to Brackman's 80 2/3.

The Thunder fanned seven more hitters than the second-place team, the Akron Aeros. They also won 12 more games than the two-time defending champs (entering the season).

Kings of the Ks: Adam Warren fanned a team-record 15 hitters on August 18 against Bowie. ... Adam Olbrychowski's strikeout ended the Eastern League Division Series against the Fisher Cats. ... Mike Nickeas took strike three to end Hector Noesi's complete game against Binghamton on June 13.