Thunder 8, Harrisburg 2

The Thunder won their fourth straight playoff game Tuesday night to grab a 1-0 lead over the Harrisburg Senators in Game 1 in the ELCS. You can check out my game story here and my piece on Tony Franklin's future here (our website just got a new design, of which I approve) but below are some video and audio highlights, as well as some of my thoughts on what went down.

Five in the third

The Thunder have been one of the lightest-hitting teams in the EL all season long, and with Zoilo Almonte back with the Yankees, it looked like they were going to have trouble with a very talented Harrisburg staff. Tony Franklin put Mason Williams back in the leadoff spot after dropping him to seventh with Zoilo in town, despite some pretty terrible numbers from the top prospect (he had been just 2-for-12 in the playoffs, and in 17 regular season games with the club had an OBP of just .164). Mason, however, came through with three RBI, including this two-run double that tied the game in the third:


That ignited a five-run third inning, which also included Willams scoring on a wild pitch and a Tyler Austin RBI single (seen below) and a Jose Pirela base hit RBI.





Despite not having pitched in nine days, Nik Turley threw a solid game, allowing two runs in six innings, with 10 strikeouts. He has more to say about here: