The Thunder lost to Harrisburg, 3-2, in the process falling to second in the Eastern League East, behind the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. As it stands, it looks like those two clubs will battle for the division's top spot all summer long.

This wasn't Pat Venditte's night. He allowed the go-ahead two-run double to Josh Johnson in the seventh, but was OK in the eighth and ninth innings. Recent success notwithstanding, Venditte was visibly upset with the way he performed.

Before Johnson hit the double, Venditte was called for a balk for not stepping toward first on a pickoff throw. Steve Lombardozzi followed with an infield single, and Johnson drove both men in a few pitches later.

Venditte said he wasn't particularly unnerved by the call against him, nor did he let it hinder his concentration.

"There was still already one out in the inning, and I knew if I could make a good pitch, make a couple of good pitches, I could get a couple of quick outs and maybe get out of the inning. I got ahead there on (Johnson), 0-1 fastball away, threw the same pitch again and he put a good swing on it to left field. It's just one of those nights where things didn't go my way and I didn't execute."

Even with a few hiccups of late, Venditte has been gangbusters since May 5, when his ERA was a ghastly 6.61. Since then, he's lowered that mark to 3.20, and he credits the success to a cut fastball from the right side.

"That was an awful start to the season. Luckily, Phelpsie stuck with me and was working with me every day in the bullpen. He showed a cutter to me, which I've been throwing a ton from the right side. That's helped me immensely to go out there and get right-on-right hitters out. It's been a big confidence-booster for me. I'm just very fortunate he stuck with me and he keeps going to me."

- Craig Heyer, despite a career high-tying four walks, permitted just one run. It came on Tyler Moore's RBI triple in the first, an inning in which he walked nobody. He wasn't terribly pleased with his stuff or his outing afterward, but was thankful that he escaped relatively unscathed after six innings.

"I just didn't command the ball too well today. My change-up wasn't there. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. ... Allowing five or six hits, plus four walks is over 10 baserunners a game, so to be able to get out of it, that's a positive."

- DeAngelo Mack had two hits tonight, and he's hitting .323/.475/.548 over his last 10 games. He's got a double, two longballs, six RBIs and six walks in that time.

- Cody Johnson also had two hits, one a double just inside the left-field line, and the other a bullet off of starting pitcher Tanner Roark that drove in the Thunder's second run.

- Brad Suttle's RBI double brought home Ray Kruml with Trenton's first run.

- Jose Pirela flashed excellent range in the seventh inning after Venditte's balk. He corralled Lombardozzi's grounder to short and had the presence of mind to fire behind Jonathan Tucker at second. The throw was in plenty of time to nab Tucker, but second baseman Corban Joseph flubbed the tag.

- Not only is Kei Igawa back with the Thunder, he's back in the starting rotation too. He'll take the ball on Saturday in Binghamton.

TRENTON – On stuff alone, Craig Heyer doesn’t exactly jump out at you. He doesn’t have a mid-90s heater or a buckling breaking ball like a few of his more hyped rotation-mates, and his name certainly doesn’t come up in conversations about the system’s elite arms.

What he does have, however, after 6 1/3 innings of two-run baseball in the Thunder’s 5-2 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats yesterday, is a tie for the third-best ERA in the Yankees organization.

The win also pushed the Thunder into a tie with New Hampshire for both first place in the Eastern Division and the best record in the league. After a sloppy 10-12 April, both feats seemed well out of reach.

Heyer attributed the rapid ascension to an upbeat clubhouse, which in turn has produced a brand of baseball that is more free-flowing than in the first month, when the team sometimes seemed mechanical.

“It’s been awesome. Everyone’s playing loose, playing relaxed. It starts at the top, actually, with Tony (Franklin). He’s loose and relaxed as well, so it’s kind of neat going out there every game and being confident, too.”

The final run yesterday – which scored on a bases-loaded walk after Heyer was yanked – upped his ERA from 2.77 to 2.78, and nudged him into a third-place tie with D.J. Mitchell, a member of last year’s Thunder rotation.

Accomplishing what he has so far has taken willingness to pound the strike zone over and over again with a low-90s fastball that features cutting and sinking action, as well as an ineffable ability to command.

“He’s been pretty consistent with what he gives us,” Franklin said. “ … He’s not going to overwhelm you with a lot of fantastic curveballs or velocity or anything, but the guy’s consistent, and that’s major league pitching.”

Entering yesterday, Heyer had walked just 15 hitters over his previous 140 2/3 innings, a total that spans last season. By comparison, teammates Manny Banuelos and Dellin Betances – who have each attracted considerable attention nationally – have issued 26 and 22 walks, respectively, this season alone.

Backing Heyer was a lively Thunder offense led by the resurgent Cody Johnson, who continued peppering line drives all over Waterfront Park. He scored three singles off of Blue Jays prospect Henderson Alvarez before coming up with his compulsory whiff of the afternoon.

His hits drove home two of the Thunder’s runs, and swatted the single that drove Alvarez from the game. Over his last 10 contests, Johnson, previously the definition of an all-or-nothing hitter, looks like a new man.

Since May 28, Johnson has hit a stunning .405/.419/.762 with three doubles, four home runs and 15 RBIs. He’s on a 10-game hitting streak, and was 8-for-14 in the series with New Hampshire. More amazingly, all of those eight knocks were singles.

The streak was spurred in part by Johnson lowering his hands in his stance, which has eliminated a pronounced hitch that plagued him over the first part of the year. Franklin thinks that, like the rest of his team, the designated hitter is carrying a renewed feeling of confidence onto the field.

“He makes an impact in our lineup now,” he said. “He’s a man to be reckoned with now, and I think the opposition knows that.”

NOTES: There’s no movement on the Austin Romine front. The catcher wasn’t in the lineup yesterday, and is not expected play today when the Thunder hit the road for four games against the Reading Phillies. … Catcher Ryan Baker got into his first game of the season last night, and immediately caught Darin Mastroianni, one of the league’s best base burglars, trying to take second.

(Trenton, NJ) - The Trenton Thunder, Double-A Affiliate of the New York Yankees, announce that RHP Craig Heyer has been activated from the 7-Day Disabled List. In a corresponding move, OF Austin Krum has been transferred to Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre. The move keeps the Thunder roster at one below the minimum of 24 active players.

Heyer, who will make his fifth start of the season Saturday night for the Thunder, is 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA as a starter in 2011. The righty from Scottsdale, AZ has also appeared twice out of the Trenton bullpen this season, amassing a 1-0 record with a 1.35 ERA as a reliever.

Krum will make his first appearance at the Triple-A level after spending parts of the last three seasons in a Thunder uniform (237 games from 2009-2011). In 40 games with Trenton in 2011, the Highlands Ranch, CO native has a .242 batting average with 13 runs batted in.

TRENTON – Even though Kevin Millwood’s time in Trenton was limited to just one outing, the impact he left during his brief stay may have been much larger.

The right-hander was bumped up Wednesday to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and will make his second minor league start on Friday against the Syracuse Skychiefs. He’ll take the spot of Mark Prior

He made one start with the Thunder, a seven-inning one-hitter in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Harrisburg Senators. Using a well-placed fastball that topped at around 87 miles per hour, the veteran showed the younger pitchers that you can succeed without top-shelf velocity.

One such pitcher is Craig Heyer, a 25-year-old righty who, like Millwood, uses a combination of low-velocity with good sink and command to record his outs. As it happened, Heyer started the second game of the doubleheader, and Millwood watched closely.

“Right after I came out of the game (Sunday), he was in the clubhouse. I was trying to pick his brain on how he was pitching those guys,” Heyer said. “He kind of gave us some advice after the game, so it was kind of neat to have a guy like that around.”

Millwood even went so far as to act as a sort of second pitching coach during Heyer’s start. As Heyer struggled to keep his ball down, Millwood was watching from the dugout, ready to advise his newfound pupil.

“I was getting in trouble when my ball was up, and he noticed that from the side,” Heyer continued. “He’s noticing that I’m pulling off my front shoulder, and said ‘just stay on it.’”

Heyer will start again on Friday against Harrisburg, and will likely stay in the rotation until the blister on Dellin Betances’ right pointer finger has recovered sufficiently.

Tony Franklin, Millwood’s skipper for the week, was duly impressed with the way the 159-game winner handled himself around his younger, less experienced teammates.

“It was good to see him go out there and pitch well, and interact with the guys and talk to the guys about their pitching and things of that nature,” he said. “That kind of stuff is just invaluable. I wish I could keep him all year, to be honest with you.

NOTES: Kei Igawa was also promoted to Scranton after Tuesday’s contest. He, however, is expected to be back after making one start on April 21 against the Syracuse Skychiefs. … Charleston catcher Gary Sanchez, the system’s No. 2 prospect as ranked by Baseball America, was reinstated yesterday from the 7-Day Disabled List, where he spent the minimum time while recovering from an oblique injury. … The Yankees signed 22-year-old outfielder Jason Place off waivers from the Red Sox. Place was Boston’s first-round pick in the 2006 draft.

Lineups

Harrisburg
1. Josh Johnson - SS
2. Steve Lombardozzi - 2B
3. Buck Coats - DH
4. Tyler Moore - 1B
5. Jesus Valdez - LF
6. Bill Rhinehart - RF
7. Devin Ivany - C
8. Tim Pahuta - 3B
9. Jonathan Tucker - CF
10. Luis Atilano - RHP

Trenton
1. Austin Krum - LF
2. Jose Pirela - SS
3. Austin Romine - C
4. Brad Suttle - 3B
5. Cody Johnson - DH
6. Melky Mesa - CF
7. Corban Joseph - 2B
8. Myron Leslie - 1B
9. Ray Kruml - RF
10. Kevin Millwood - RHP

Pregame Notes: This is Game 1 of doubleheader to make up for yesterday's washout. Each game is seven innings, and Craig Heyer (1-0, 1.35) will start Game 2 for Trenton. He'll be opposed by Brad Peacock. ... To make room for Millwood on the roster, the Thunder have placed outfielder Damon Sublett on the DL. His stint is retroactive to Friday.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Against their perpetual foil from last season, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Thunder came out on top on Opening Day, thanks to a strong performance from the pitching staff.

Hun alumnus Steve Garrison started and went four shutout innings before handing the ball to Craig Heyer in the fifth.

Heyer, despite walking two men and giving up an unearned run over three innings, picked up the win.

Melky Mesa, the team’s new center fielder, started his Thunder career strong with a run-scoring double in the second frame. Mesa later added a single, finishing a solid 2-for-4 debut.
Cody Johnson and Brad Suttle also smacked two-baggers in the victory.

Most of the damage came against Zach Stewart, a top Jays prospect who was 1-0 with a 3.29 ERA in five starts against the Thunder last season.

Tim Norton and Fernando Hernandez pitched the final two innings.

If one were to look for a flaw in this win, it would be found on the defense.

Trenton made four errors last night, including two from second baseman Corban Joseph, one from shortstop Jose Pirela, and a catcher’s interference call leveled against Austin Romine.

The teams face each other again tonight, when Shaeffer Hall will make his Eastern League debut against circuit stalwart Reider Gonzalez.

Every Wednesday, Minor Matters will unveil its top 10 Thunder players to watch next season. Considering that the Tampa Yankees took home the Florida State League crown in 2010, there's no reason to believe that the upcoming season will have a shortage of talent around the diamond.

No. 7 - Craig Heyer















Bio: Heyer is a strike thrower of the highest degree. He was drafted twice by the Diamondbacks (2004, 2005) before he finally signed with the Yankees in the 22nd round in 2007, out of the University of Nevada Las Vegas. One notable who also came from that round is the Phillies' Jiwan James.

He's walked 43 men over 301 1/3 innings in his minor league career, and has permitted just nine long balls during that span. Certainly impressive numbers, but he's 25 years old, and he hasn't thrown a pitch above High-A.

He' s been left unprotected for the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. If he's selected and kept by another club, he obviously won't have much value to the Thunder in 2011.

2010 season: After combining for eight starts in his first three years of pro ball, Heyer got the call a dozen times for Tampa in 2010. This is due, in part, to injuries to guys like Manny Banuelos, who was expected to be a big part of the T-Yanks' rotation, but missed half the season with an emergency appendectomy.

Overall, Heyer went 8-4 with a 3.52 ERA in 92 innings over 26 total appearances in a repeat of High-A. He struck out 66 against just 6 walks. That's a ratio of 11-to-1, which is pretty darn good, people.

The Yankees also sent him to the Arizona Fall League this season, where he made four relief appearances and started three times. He went 1-2 with a 1.80 ERA in a pretty good hitters' league.

What's Next: If he doesn't get chosen in the Rule 5, I expect him to fill the Josh Schmidt role with the Thunder next season. Long reliever, spot starter, occasional one-out guy, if necessary.

Yes, yes, the Yankees have advanced to the American League Championship Series. That's fine. Over here at Minor Matters, however, we care naught for things that concern the big club.

That means today, even with the Bombers off until Friday, big things are going on. The Arizona Fall League begins at 12:35 p.m., when the Phoenix Desert Dogs (which houses the Yankees players) meet the Mesa Solar Sox.

As I mentioned earlier on the blog, the Yankees on the Desert Dogs roster are:

C - Austin Romine
2B - Jose Pirela
OF - Brandon Laird
P - George Kontos
P - Craig Heyer
P - Ryan Pope
P - Manny Banuelos

In today's matchup, Romine, the Thunder's catcher, will face his brother Andrew, an infielder in the Angels system. Without looking it up, I am fairly certain this is the first time the two have met in a professional setting.

Also featured on the Mesa roster are:

- Justin Wilson, the Altoona lefty who sent the Thunder from the Eastern League playoffs.

- Brett Jackson, who, along with Laird was the other minor leaguer to complete a cycle with a walk-off home run. Carlos Gonzalez accomplished the feat in the MLB.

- Chris Carpenter, a Cubs farmhand who was drafted by the Yankees in 2007 (18th round).

- Matt Rizzotti, a slugging Phillies first baseman who hit an astonishing .343/.430/.985 with 17 home runs and 76 RBIs split among three levels.

- Brad Holt, Mesa's opening starter and a Mets prospect who struggled mightily with control (79 walks in 95 innings) and saw his stock fall dramatically.

Here are some photos I took today. Clockwise from top are: Dan Brewer, Matt Cusick, Dellin Betances, Craig Heyer and Damon Sublett.

Once again, per the Thunder via trainer Tim Lentych.

PITCHING

Christian Garcia: 5 shutout innings
Craig Heyer: 3 innings, 2 runs

HITTING

Austin Krum: Double, Single, HBP, 3 runs
Myron Leslie: 2-run HR
Austin Romine: Triple, 2 RBIs
Marcos Vechionacci: 2 singles, 2 RBIs
Brandon Laird: Single, RBI
Walter Ibarra: Single
Eduardo Sosa: Walk, Single, Run