Final score: Erie 9, Trenton 2

Synopsis: Craig Heyer's ball was flat in the first inning and he gave up seven runs as a result. Heyer recovered shortly thereafter, but the Thunder's offense never did. Trenton clocked six hits in the game, three of which came from Yadil Mujica. The team's only RBI before the ninth came on a double from Abe Almonte, which scored Mujica. 

Bright spots: The aforementioned three hits from Mujica, plus the first Double-A hit -- a home run -- from Neil Medchill, in the ninth inning. Francisco Rondon also tossed two scoreless innings in relief of Heyer. 

Not as bright spots: It wasn't in as big of a situation, but Mujica made the second game-ending mistake of his Thunder career. His inexplicable bunt squelched a Trenton rally last June, and his ill-fated attempt to take second base on his ninth-inning single Thursday quashed any ideas of what would have been an extremely improbable rally. 

After the game, manager Tony Franklin called Mujica's gaffe a "mistake of aggression," which was particularly interesting wording considering something Ronnier Mustelier said on Wednesday while describing the differences between baseball in Cuba and the game stateside. 

"Cuban baseball is a little more aggressively played than Double-A," he said. "It's a little bit more conservative here. A lot of it is just taking the extra base in Cuba. Here, it's a lot more technical and tactical. They want to make sure they're executing here, where as down there they're trying to play on the margins a little bit more and push the envelope."

Regardless, Franklin said that Mujica's is certainly not the first such mistake his team has made, and, considering how incredibly strapped it is because of injuries to just about everybody, it can't afford to screw up. 

"I think we need to think about where we are," he said. "I don't think it's something we should dismiss. We haven't played well this homestand, and I think that's something we need to think about and do a little bit better job with. ... We just can't dismiss what happened. We shouldn't dismiss what happened and take it lightly. That's not what we're about. We're about playing better baseball."

Picks to Click: Here is my game story from Thursday

Flicks to Click: Here are four videos from Thursday. If you like strikeouts, here ya go.