Been at the ballyard since 2:00, and the players are just starting to emerge. Craig Heyer makes his 2012 Thunder debut tonight, five days after backing up Manny Delcarmen in Lehigh Valley. 

I'd expect to see Michael Dubee used at some point this evening. Then again, I expected to see him last night, and you know how that went. 

Here's a little note that I noticed when going through the box scores for Around the System. In addition to Cody Johnson's two-walk effort on Monday, Jose Pirela also worked a pair of free passes. He did that just once all of last year, May 12 against Binghamton.

Thunder lineup: 
Abe Almonte - CF
Ronnier Mustelier - 3B
David Adams - 2B
Zoilo Almonte - RF
Rob Lyerly - 1B
Dan Brewer - LF
Cody Johnson - DH
Jose Gil - C
Walter Ibarra - SS
Craig Heyer - RHP

Edit - 4:24: David Adams has been removed from the lineup and replaced by Ronnier Mustelier at second. The ever-malleable Addison Maruszak slides in at third. I'm sure we're all aware by now of Mr. Adams' history with injuries.

Portland lineup:
Juan Linares - LF
Kolbrin Vitek - 3B
Bryce Brentz - DH
Reynaldo Rodriguez - 1B
Dan Butler - C
Jeremy Hazelbaker - RF
Jon Hee - 2B
Peter Hissey - CF
Heiker Meneses - SS
Chris Balcom-Miller - RHP

Edit - 6:50: Breathe, Yankees fans, breathe. Adams has a stiff neck and could be back in the lineup tomorrow for the matinee with the Sea Dogs. Not really holding my breath on that one though.

Brett Marshall will move up to start on Thursday instead of Friday. Although it's a day earlier than his turn in the rotation would normally come up, Marshall will still be on regular rest. ... Melky Mesa is getting a day off today. Abraham Almonte is playing center field in his place. He played 124 games there last year for Tampa, so I think he'll be all right.

If the team wins tonight, it would be the 1,000th of manager Tony Franklin's career. That total includes the playoffs. To put into perspective how long he's been managing, the first layer he sent to the big leagues, Steve Engel, debuted on July 30, 1985, or a few months after I was born.

Engel didn't last as long in the show as the second big leaguer Franklin's clubs produced -- Jamie Moyer.