Final score: New Britain 5, Trenton 3

Synopsis: The Rock Cats got to Shaeffer Hall for a pair of runs in the first and fourth innings, and the Thunder couldn't catch up. They got three in the fourth inning on Addison Maruszak's 16th bomb of the year and a Walter Ibarra double, but were blanked in every other frame. 

Bright spots: The Thunder's bullpen allowed just a hit and walk over the final four innings. ... Kevin Mahoney had a pair of doubles. ... Zoilo Almonte put together his second straight two-hit game after going 1 for his last 16 entering Wednesday. 

Delayed Recognition: As I mentioned earlier, Maruszak has 16 home runs. That's the most by an everyday shortstop in franchise history. The previous record was held by Randy Brown, who manned the position in 1997. Maruszak's record-breaking longball came on July 27, off of Harrisburg's Kevin Pucetas. 

Two, it's a Magic Number: Trenton's loss, plus Reading's win means the Thunder's magic number to clinch the division stays at two. They'll send Brett Marshall to the hill tomorrow at NYSEG Stadium to try to slice that to 1 at the worst. 

Where's Pedro? Yankees rehabbing reliever Pedro Feliciano was slated to pitch on Thursday. That did not occur. In fact, he was gone and his locker cleaned out when the media got back to the clubhouse for the postgame. 

The Staten Island Yankees tweeted that he'll throw out of the bullpen for them on Friday, but it certainly was an odd turn of circumstances.

Speaking of Mr. Feliciano, he was here for four days and did not purchase a postgame spread for the players. It's certainly not required that he do so, but it is definitely bad form. It's a little like tipping your server at a restaurant. It's not mandatory (unless you're at a place where gratuity is factored into the bill), but there had better be a good reason not to leave a little something extra. 

So, unless the Thunder ruthlessly harangued Feliciano for the last four days, it seems a little stingy that he didn't throw a little Chipotle or Outback (the typical luxury meal) their way. Especially considering the man has collected a little less than $8 million in his Yankees career without throwing a pitch in the majors. 

Picks to click: I wrote stories on Thursday about the Yankees and Thunder extending their Player Development Contract until 2022, about Tony Franklin getting the Eastern League Manager of the Year award, and about the game.