-- I had a little free time today, so I combed the MiLB portal looking at some of the Thunder's numbers this year. One that jumped at me was the 1,042 strikeouts Trenton hitters had accrued this year.

The franchise's all-time worst was 1,047 punchouts, and this year's version is just five away with 21 games left on the slate. I find that pretty darn astounding.

The mark gets even more perplexing when one realizes that the team has spent the last month and change without Cody Johnson and Brad Suttle -- windmills both -- and that Melky Mesa, another prime culprit, had played just 87 games entering Wednesday's action.

-- Another reason the Thunder have struggled down the stretch? Infield defense, or a severe lack thereof. Corban Joseph and Jose Pirela have combined for 51 errors this season at second base and shortstop, respectively.

-- Yesterday, I ran down the list of people I thought might start Friday's homestand-opening game against the Bowie Baysox. I listed Kei Igawa, Cory Arbiso and Jeff Marquez as possibilities, but apparently I didn't count on one of the more obvious choices: Josh Schmidt.

Schmidt, who is, mercifully, on the precipice of minor league free agency, has been sent back to Trenton, according to Donnie Collins of the Scranton Times-Tribune.

As is tradition, Schmidt has bounced between Trenton and Scranton this season, and has put forth a 7-4 record, a 2.20 ERA and a .199 average against. He's allowed just 40 hits in 57.1 innings this year and has fanned 62 against 24 walks.

If he starts on Friday, I wouldn't be surprised to see him stick in the rotation for the rest of the year. He's filling the shoes of Dellin Betances, who will make his first Triple-A start tomorrow, against Durham.

The difference between Schmidt and Betances is not unlike that between Joba Chamberlain and former Yankees reliever Edwar Ramirez.

-- John Brebbia, the Yankees' 30th-round selection in this year's draft, out of Elon, was assigned to Staten Island today.

After four days in sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny Virginia, I'm back in action. Not much happened while I was gone, did it? Oh, right, some stuff did occur.

For instance ...

Dellin Betances was promoted to Scranton. This makes sense. He pitched very well his last time out, and his velocity was hitting the upper-90s. He had been throwing a much higher percentage of fastballs in recent days, an indicator, I think, that the Yankees may use him as a reliever in the near future.

With his promotion, the Thunder's rotation is left with a 6-foot, 8-inch hole to fill. As it stands, here are Trenton's five starters:

1. Shaeffer Hall
2. Graham Stoneburner
3. Steve Garrison
4. Craig Heyer
5. ????

There are two in-house candidates for the elusive Four Question marks Of Doom spot -- Cory Arbiso and Kei Igawa. Arbiso is starting tonight in the second game of the doubleheader with Erie, so you can probably count him out at least for Friday.

Igawa just came off the shelf, where he'd been since June 23, so he'd be fresh as a daisy on Friday. That said, he's been markedly better as a reliever with the Thunder this season -- not that it really matters to the guys who make these types of decisions.

The other, more interesting candidate is Jeff Marquez, who was with the team way back in 2008, my first year of coverage. He's working his way back from injury, and is currently with the Tampa Yankees. He last pitched on the 13th, so he'd be on five days' rest.

Because Marquez is on the 40-man roster, no move would be needed to get him on the Thunder's roster on Friday. This is key, because the team is currently carrying the maximum 24 players.

Additionally, Austin Romine was activated off the team's disabled list this afternoon. Inflamed disks in his back put him out on August 3rd. Tonight's game will be the first he's played in exactly two weeks. Don't expect him here for long, however. He'll get the bump to Scranton once Jesus Montero is ready to take the first car up to the Bronx.

Corban Joseph missed three consecutive games after having a stye on his eye taken care of. My sister dealt with one of those at one point, and I remember her saying that they were no fun at all. Though he wouldn't admit, I'd bet it hindered his performance some.

The Thunder also dropped two of three to the Harrisburg Senators over the weekend, including one that was lost when Bryce Harper hit a 480-foot walkoff home run off of Ryan Pope on Friday.

As it stands, Trenton is, at 60-60, in a tie for second place in the Eastern Division with the Reading Phillies. Lurking just a half-game back is New Britain, who also could overtake both Reading and the Thunder for the wild card.

If the Thunder are going to make the playoffs, they're going to have to beat some of the best competition the circuit has to offer. After their quartet with Erie, they have seven games with division leader New Hampshire, three with Western Division frontrunner Bowie and eight with the Rock Cats.

UPDATE: Welp, I missed on that one, folks. Jeff Marquez was placed on the 60-Day DL and most certainly not be starting against the Baysox on Friday. Igawa leads the race.

TRENTON — Against some of the circuit’s top talent and with a horde of scouts watching and recording his every pitch, Manny Banuelos finally put together a signature moment for the 2011 season.

For the first half of the year, the Thunder starter had put forth results that mostly resided toward the upper end of middling. The stuff’s been there, but the command has not, and that’s what has kept him from achieving the truly elite status.

After Zach Stewart started and Princeton native Erik Arnesen pitched a frame, Banuelos entered the proceedings and blew away the competition in rather impressive and efficient fashion.

He struck out all three men he faced — Bowie’s Xavier Avery, Altoona’s Starling Marte and Akron’s Juan Diaz — on just 13 pitches, all but two of which were strikes. He threw almost exclusively fastballs and topped out at 94 miles per hour, according to one scout’s gun.

“I haven’t felt that way throughout the year. If I’m able to throw like that, good things are going to happen. That’s the way I want to throw. It’s a good thing to take forward,” Banuelos said afterward, with the help of teammate and fellow All-Star Dellin Betances.

“I’m going to try to take this outing into the second half. I feel like the way I commanded out there and the way I felt, it’s something I (would) definitely take in the second half.”

Betances, who has struggled with efficiency problems all year, got into the game in the fifth and quickly put his struggles in the rear-view. He cut through the Western Division in just seven pitches, including a strikeout of Bowie catcher Caleb Joseph.

He also got a popout from Roger Kieschnick and finished a stress-free frame on Avery’s fly ball to the left-field warning track.

“It was a quick outing, seven pitches, I can’t complain,” he said. “Last time I pitched was six days ago, so it’s one of those things. I just had to go after these guys and throw strikes, and I got some good defense.”

On the offensive side, second baseman Corban Joseph was the star, scoring a pair of hard-hit singles, including a screamer through the box against Tigers stud hurler and Futures Game alumnus Jacob Turner.

Joseph has turned his stock around since his Trenton debut, when a barking wrist veiled his true offensive potential. Now, with everything long healed, he’s putting his sweet left-handed stroke to good use, culminating in a fan selection to Wednesday night’s action in the All-Star Game.

“I enjoyed it,” Joseph said. “I got lucky and got two hits. I swung through in my first at-bat, and that’s something I’ve never done before. They encourage that here. I thought, what’s a better time to do that than at the All-Star Game?”

Catcher Austin Romine, fresh off a two-hit effort at the Futures Game at Chase Field, rolled a single to right field in his first trip, putting a cap on a very fruitful effort for Trenton’s quartet of All-Stars.

MANNY BANUELOS

MONKEYS ON DOGS HERDING GOATS

DELLIN BETANCES

CORBAN JOSEPH

AUSTIN ROMINE

MANNY BANUELOS

JN: You've watched Dellin all year. How much do you think he's improved since April?

MB: Now he looks very comfortable compared with time before. His last start was very impressive. He threw very hard, he threw a lot of strikes ... it was pretty impressive.

JN: Was that his best start of the year?

MB: Yeah. He had a couple of good starts before, but I watched him all game and he looked very comfortable and aggressive the whole time.

JN: Had he not had that aggressiveness all year?

MB: He tried to, but he's still working on mechanics and some other things. I saw him aggressive all year, but this time ... wow ... all his stuff.

JN: In the beginning of the year, do you think that blister was hurting him more than maybe he was letting on?

MB: I saw his finger .. it was really bad. Every day we saw his finger, and it was getting better. I think he came back very quick (considering how bad it looked).

JN: With all the expectations on him this year, do you think there's more pressure on him than in past years?

MB: No, no. I saw him all the time relaxed. He knows what he's doing.

JN: Do you remember the first outing you saw him, way back when you both were in the Gulf Coast League together?

MB: Really tall! For the hitters, I saw him pitching and throwing really hard. I said, 'Man, he's really tall and he throws really hard. It's impossible to hit!'

JN: Did you know about him before that game, about how much money he got and what kind of pedigree he had?

MB: I never had seen him before. I'd said hi to him, but we'd never talked. Before that game, never. I just saw him pitch and said 'Who is this guy? Where is he playing? Is he in Low-A? Is he here for a rehab?' I said, 'Man, this guy's nasty."

JN: You two guys have been linked together for a while now. Have you become friends because of it? Are you guys closer because it's Dellin and Manny or it's Manny and Dellin?

MB: I like to talk to him. I like him like a player and like a friend. We talk a lot about baseball and about families and also about friends. He's not my friend just for the baseball, cause I like him like a person. He's nice. He's a really nice person.

JN: What does he do off the field for fun?

MB: I like to see him when he starts to dance. When we're at the hotel we play music and we laugh and he starts to dance really funny. He's really good.



JN: Can he breakdance?

MB: Yeah. He can dance everything. It's funny because he's really tall. You see a big guy dancing and it's really funny. His moves and everything, we laugh and we make fun.

JN: Are you as good a dancer as he is?

MB: No. Not like that.

JN: If I asked him what you do off the field to relax, what would he tell me?

MB: I have no idea, man. I have no idea. You have to ask him.

JN: You don't do anything off the field?

MB: We talk a lot, but nothing special.

JN: What does it mean to be an All-Star for the first time?

MB: I've been an Arizona Fall League Rising Star and I went to the Futures Game in 2009. ... I am pretty happy for making the All-Star. It's hard, but I'm surprised because I haven't done very well in the season and I made the team.

JN: What do you to improve in the second half?

MB: I just want to come in pitching like I want. I haven't had any starts where I've come in being aggressive or with my command. I just want to throw all my stuff like last year.

Mike Ashmore and I conducted this interview with Yankees player development guru Mark Newman on Tuesday. His questions indicated with "MA," whereas mine are indicated with "JN." Mark's answers are indicated with a simple "A" for answer. Enjoy.

JN: Where is Adams in terms of coming back to this team?

A: Adams is farther way. Adams will not come directly here anyway. He’ll probably go play in the Florida State League before he comes here.

JN: Will that be a rehab, or will that be officially on Tampa’s roster?

A: They don’t do minor league rehabs there, so he has to go on their roster.

JN: Has the fact that he’s taken so long to come back been frustrating for you?

A: It’s been frustrating for him. I empathize with him. One, he is a very good player and prospect. Two, he works beyond diligently at his craft defensively and offensively, and throughout this process at the rehab work that he faces. So he’s frustrated, but when you get down to it, what good does that do you?

What he needs to do, and what he does do, is work at it every day. Humanness dictates that there’s some frustration, but he’s a smart enough guy to know that if you spend too much time on those feelings and emotions, it’s going to make your task even more difficult.

JN: As for Stoneburner?

A: Stoneburner’s pitching in games on a rehab assignment in the GCL. He’s got some more hoops to jump through. He had two innings in his last start.

MA: And Bleich?

A: Bleich is a long way away. He’s not imminent. There’s no reason to worry about him.

JN: I assume you were made aware of Slade Heathcott’s incident this year in Charleston. Was there any talk of possible internal discipline for his actions?

A: There wasn’t any internal discipline.

JN: When you see a kid who has Heathcott’s background, and this happens, does it worry you a little?

A: He’s doing well at what he’s doing. I was no more worried about him than I would have been anyone else. He’s been great. We’ve had zero problems with him.

MA: Betances and Banuelos are obviously the talk of the organization. How would you compare those two in terms of where they’re at right now?

A: Very close. They’re both pitching well here. They could both pitch better here. They could both improve the control and command of their fastball, so they’re very close in my mind.

MA: Is one ahead of the other?

A: I don’t really think so. If there were, I wouldn’t say.

JN: That third B, Brackman, are his issues mostly between the ears?

A: He’s not doing well. He’s scuffling. I think it’s a confidence thing. More than anything else, it’s that.

JN: What do you do to treat something like that?

A: He’s working at it, and he’s got to work through the problems. When athletes struggle, the good ones, what they do is call on past successes and they run that video through their brain. Brack’s got to do that sort of thing.

He’s got to remember how good a pitcher he is. At the end of the year last year, he was a good as anyone here. In the playoffs, a lot of our guys said he was our best pitcher in the playoffs.

He can do that again. It’s been a tough year for him, but he’s certainly good enough and he’s certainly working at it.

JN: Do you have a sports psychologist on staff to deal with such problems if need be?

A: We’ve got a department of four people that deal with those issues specifically, but all of our coaches do too. It’s an ongoing conversation. What can we do to help our players max out their performance potential? Coaches and sports performance experts – I mean, coaches are performance experts – our coaches understand these things, our sports performance department understands these things. We try to educate players about how to think and feel during competition, during preparation for competition. It’s constant.

We gameplan for three aspects with our athletes:

∙ Fundamental – how you catch, throw and hit

∙ Physical – How you get stronger, faster, quicker, bigger

∙ Mental emotionally – How you think and how you feel

All those things are intertwined. They don’t exist independently of each other. We understand that we need a program in those three areas for all of our players.

Depending on the individual and depending on where you are in this guy’s career, one of those things may be predominant. Brack right now is working on confidence. It’s what he’s got to do. It’s taken a couple of hits, his confidence has, but this is a game for tough people.

When I say tough people, it’s not just run over catchers, or break up double plays or run into walls to catch fly balls. A lot of the toughness required in this business is mental. It’s the ability to fight through junk. That’s where he’s at. He’s in a tough spot, we’ve got other players who have been in tough spots too.

MA: Wanted to ask you about the hitting coach situation. Ever since Matos left, I guess things have been in flux a little bit. When the situation happened, what was your reaction?

A: My initial reaction was just to find out went on. After that, you gather facts and you make judgments. As a result of that, we decided that it wasn’t going to work to have him here for the remainder of the season. We’re lucky we’ve got James Rowson, who’s going to spend a ton of his time here. James is an excellent hitting coach, and Pat Roessler’s our farm director. He’s a former major league hitting coach and hitting coordinator, and he’s exceptional too. So these guys will be in good hands.

MA: What is Matos’ status in the organization right now?

A: He’s still a member of the organization, he’s just not here right now.

JN: What was behind the decision to keep Cito Culver at Staten Island this year rather than move him to Charleston with Gary Sanchez?

A: Different player, different needs. Sanchez was probably the premier performer in the Gulf Coast League a year ago. Cito did a solid job. That’s all it is.

MA: Is there anybody here knocking on the door of Scranton?

A: Not right at the moment. Everybody expects Manny and Dellin to go, and they’ll go when they’re consistent, when they put together the kinds of performances we’re looking for. That doesn’t necessarily mean shutouts. It means when they continue to execute.

Austin Romine could play at any Triple-A field in the country and be at home, but that’s just a matter of he and Montero need to catch.

JN: With Montero, the word complacency has been thrown around. Is that something you’ve seen?

A: No. I see him work every day. I see his defense improve. I think his defense has improved significantly over a year ago, and I think he continues to take steps in the right direction. He’s not putting up the offensive numbers he did last year, but last year his offense came in the last two months, two and a half months, and that’s where we are now.

JN: Are you surprised it took him that long to turn it on in Triple-A last year?

A: He’s 21 years old. He’d be a college senior. I’m surprised he’s in Triple-A, and that he’s working on his second year in Triple-A.

MA: People talk a lot about the Hughes Rules, the Joba Rules, all that kind of stuff. When you see some of your younger guys break down a little bit like they have, not that I’m at all suggesting anything wrong is going on, do you second guess the way you’re progressing these guys along in terms of pitch counts, innings, stuff like that?

A: Second guess how? Should have pitched them more, should have pitched them less?

MA: In any sort of sense.

A: No. I’ve done this too long and seen too many injuries. When we go through last year and have basically no injuries, and I tell our young guys -- they think, for a fleeting moment characterized by a lack of humility, that we’ve figured out how to keep pitchers healthy – you’re always going to deal with pitchers injuries.

There are three things that you can control: Mechanics, conditioning and workload. You cannot control DNA, and you cannot control the fact that the human body is not designed to do this. So, our pitching coaches try to help guys develop deliveries that are going to help them sustain. Our strength and conditioning coaches get involved in arm exercise, cardio, core, flexibility exercises designed to help these guys sustain.

The programs are designed in conjunction with the best doctors and physical therapists in the country, the Andrewses and the extraordinary orthopedic surgeons who do so many of these things. That’s a lot of information, and no one’s got answers.

Every once in a while, some club will start talking about this or that program they have – tread lightly. As soon as you think you’ve got the answer – as they say in golf, as soon as you think you’ve got the key they change the lock. I’ve done this long enough – as a lot of us have here – to have a healthy amount of humility about how hard this stuff is.

We monitor pitches, innings, increases, workloads, times a year, long-throwing programs, core exercises, when they do their arm exercises, how many times during the week, how many reps … no detail is beyond our concern. Having said that, we don’t control the whole environment.

JN: You mentioned DNA. While you obviously can’t look at DNA itself, can you go back and look at a guy’s family history to see if there’s anything there?

A: If they had a mother and a father who were pitchers that pitched 300 innings a year for 20 years like Nolan Ryan, you’d probably say: Well, there’s a shot. Beyond that, you look for bigger and stronger, but jeez, who’s bigger and stronger than Grant Duff? Tim Norton, who’s bigger and stronger than him?

They work very hard. Stuff happens. If we used them four days in a row, if the starter went 160 (pitches) because we were trying to win a playoff game, then we should be rightly scrutinized. Our primary objective is to produce and get these guys ready to play, and sometimes they get hurt. This year, we’ve had more than our share, as has our big league staff.

JN: Staying on medical for a little bit, Alan Horne had platelet-rich plasma therapy. Was he the first in the organization to have that procedure done?

A: No. We’ve used it for knees, hamstrings … it’s kind of en vogue now. We’ll know in a couple of years how good it is.

JN: Which gets to the point of the question: What is the organization’s approach to newer medical procedures?

A: Our doctors are doing it. I’m not doing it. Casey Stengel once said about a player “his limits are limitless.” My limits in the medical field are limitless. I don’t know, but our Dr. Ahmad, in New York, (and others like him), they have the current research. We defer.

JN: Corban Joseph has really done well this year. What are your guys in the organization saying about the returns on him this season?

A: Well. We love his bat. He works very hard at defense. He had a really great double play turn the other day in New Britain. First and third, one out – it was a heck of a play. He’s done well.

JN: Same kind of question with Jose Pirela. First two months were bad, but now he’s turned it on. What do you think caused that turnaround?

A: Look at his month to months last year – same thing. He told me it was weather. First two months, he’s never played in cold weather, he’s from Venezuela. I said, well what happened the first two months of last year, in Tampa? It was the same thing.

Not sure he could play in the league? I don’t know. That’s rank amateur psychology. He hit a long home run to left-center in New Britain, I mean it was a bomb.

TRENTON – After spring training this season, plenty of fans were clamoring for Dellin Betances and Manny Banuelos – two of the Yankees’ three “Killer B’s” – to earn spots on the major league roster. Who better to fill the two gaping holes in the rotation, they surmised, than two of the brightest prospects not only in New York’s system, but all of baseball?

With his outing last night – a microcosm of his season’s performance so far – Betances showed exactly why rushing your youngsters to the show can be a recipe for disaster. The towering right-hander walked five in 5 2/3 innings, and left his team with an early three-run deficit.

Still, the team’s theme over the last month or so has been perseverance, and last night’s effort was no exception. The Thunder escaped the hole Betances left them, and put together yet another comeback, a 4-3 win over the New Hampshire Fisher Cats punctuated by Cody Johnson’s walk-off single in the tenth inning in front of 6,519 fans at Waterfront Park.

The winning rally got its start in one of the least likely ways – a rare misplay from shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria, whose two spectacular plays in the second inning kept the Thunder from scoring.

Still, Ray Kruml’s grounder reached shortstop on a tricky bounce, and Hechavarria was handcuffed. Corban Joseph worked a walk next, and an out later the pair executed a perfect double steal.

“For some reason, I saw an in-between hop coming. Normally he makes that play and he didn’t tonight,” manager Tony Franklin said. “All the talk in the dugout during the course of the game was, every play he makes ‘This guy’s a major league defender right now, there’s no question about it.’”

New Hampshire then chose to intentionally pass Brad Suttle to load the bases for Johnson, who to that point had a single and three strikeouts in four trips. He faced southpaw Frank Gailey this time, and with two strikes flicked his wrists at a slider and lined it over the head of right fielder Moises Sierra, easily plating Kruml with the winning score.

“I was just trying to take the easiest swing possible to give myself the best chance I had to put it in play,” Johnson said, who noted that New Hampshire had made some changes in the way the pitched him since Friday’s game. “Overall, they changed speeds really well on me tonight and made good pitches and didn’t really leave anything over the play for me to hit.”

That it was a single on a slider is important, because earlier in the year Johnson’s at-bats seemed to end in either a home run or a strikeout, and any breaking pitch usually meant a swing and a miss from the hulking left-hander.

Johnson now has a nine-game hitting streak, and his last six hits have been singles.

With the exception of his 10-punchout performance in Reading, Betances’ starts this season have always carried with them a hint of danger. Counting last night, he’s walked a quartet or more in four of his nine starts this season. In all, he’s issued 17 free passes in 39 2/3 innings -- or about a walk every two innings.

“He started the ballgame with a walk, and that’s not good,” Franklin said. “Overall, his command of the strike zone and command of his pitches, it wasn’t good today.”

With the exception of his truncated 2010, command has never been one of Betances’ hallmarks. Before he returned from elbow surgery last season, he’d handed out 113 bases on balls in 214 1/3 innings. He cut his rates dramatically last season, but seems to have reverted to form to this point.

In the fourth, the Thunder mounted the first half of the evening’s comeback.

With runners at first and second and two out, Jose Pirela’s triple into the right-field corner cut the score to 3-2. DeAngelo Mack’s double a few pitches later plated Pirela and gave Trenton a clean slate.

By KYLE FRANKO
For the Trentonian

TRENTON — After a 16-inning game and a six-and-a-half hour bus ride, you could excuse the Thunder if they were a little fatigued.

But that’s the nature of the business, and you have to come out and play the next day. The Thunder weren’t exactly sharp in their series opener against Portland last night, but they took advantage of some sloppy Sea Dog defense for a 3-1 win.

Trenton continues to remain hot in May, improving to 12-6 this month and 22-18 overall.

“When you get opportunities to score runs without hits, that’s a big deal,” said manager Tony Franklin. “The hits that we did get were maximized by their mistakes. You can’t afford to do it.”

Dellin Betances picked up the win to improve to 3-1 on the year. He allowed one run, striking out five and walking four in five innings of work.

“I thought his first nine hitters were really good,” said pitching coach Tommy Phelps. “The second nine hitters he was a little more inconsistent. When he had two strikes or runners in scoring position it looked like he tried to do a little too much at times.”

Franklin said they won’t look to really extend Betances until July and for right now the next step is for him to start working deeper into games on a limited pitch count.

“It’s a steady progression,” Franklin said. “You have to kind of watch his innings. This isn’t where he wants to be or where we want him to be. We want him to pitch in the Major Leagues, and when he gets there we want him to be healthy enough to stay there and pitch well.”

Wilkins Arias and Josh Schmidt combined to shut down Portland (12-25) over the remaining four innings.

Schmidt bounced back from consecutive losses to pick up his second save of the season with scoreless relief innings. It also helped a taxed bullpen that worked 11 innings in the marathon game at Erie.

“Everybody is going to have some bad outings,” Phelps said of Schmidt. “He’s been pitcher of the year here the last two years so it’s nice to have him at the back end when some guys need some rest. He can finish the game for us, and he did a good job.”

The Thunder jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. They loaded the bases with no outs but it looked like Portland starter Alex Wilson was going to get out it after striking out Brad Suttle and Cody Johnson, but second baseman Oscar Tejeda allowed a soft Melky Mesa grounder to roll between his legs.

Trenton added a third run in the second when Addison Maruszak scored on a wild pitch by Wilson.

Wilson fell to 4-3 but settled down after the first two innings, retiring the final 13 batters he faced.

Corban Joseph tripled with two outs in the second and the Thunder didn’t have another baserunner until Joseph walked in the eighth.

Luckily, it didn’t matter.

Click to enlarge

TRENTON — By the time the dust settled and everything had been sorted out after yesterday’s 3-2 Thunder win over the Binghamton Mets, everybody in the house knew that Austin Krum had struck the game-ending hit.

Whether it was a home run, however, was another question entirely.

In the ninth, with his team down by a run and with two outs and runners on first and third, Krum swatted reliever Erik Turgeon’s first pitch high and deep to right-center field.

It looked to nearly everyone that Krum had a walk-off three-run homer. First-base umpire Travis Hatch, however, saw differently and ruled immediately that the ball had hit the top of the wall and bounced back toward the field.

So while the ball was still in play, Addison Maruszak was still trotting toward home plate until acting manager Justin Pope told him he needed to kick it into gear and get himself across home plate while Krum scampered to third with what was ruled a triple.

He did just that, beating the throw home without a slide and capping his team’s fifth win on a seven-game homestand.

“I saw the ball hit off the top of the wall and then I looked at Travis, and he was giving the safe sign, so then I immediately looked at Maruszak to see where he was on the field,” Krum explained. “My heart started racing a little bit because he was taking it easy a little bit.”

For his part, Pope wasn’t immediately aware that Krum’s ball was still in play.

“I thought the ball went out,” he admitted, “so when Addison was rounding third base, I was saying ‘home run.’ Next thing I know, I see them throwing the ball in and I start screaming ‘run.’ If he would have been thrown out at home, I would have felt horrible.”

Jose Gil and Melky Mesa opened the ninth with consecutive doubles, slicing Binghamton’s two-run deficit in half.

Jose Pirela then bunted Mesa to third, and Ray Kruml made the second out on a hard grounder to first.

Maruszak followed with the walk, and Krum capped it a pitch later with the winning three-bagger.

“Maruszak had just had a good at-bat, and I knew he was going to try to get ahead,” Krum recounted. “I was just looking for something up in the zone to get a good swing on. I obviously didn’t try to hit it where I did, but I put a good swing on it.

The comeback obscured a second straight so-so start from Dellin Betances, who struggled with his command to the tune of five walks in six innings. He’s issued nine free passes over his last two starts, this after walking just two in his first three outings.

“I’ve got to get better with that, man,” he said. “If I want to move up, I’ve got to get better with command of my fastball and other pitches. That’s something I’m going to work on for my next game.”

He also suggested that some of his struggles have come because he’s tried to do too much when he’s put a hitter in a hole.

“I just feel like I’m trying to do too much when I have two strikes, instead of just pitching and working to contact and stuff like that,” he said.

With their hot stretch, the Thunder have moved themselves to three games above .500 in advance of three-game sets with Erie and Portland, which are a combined 27-42.

“We’re starting to put it together, definitely,” Krum said. “We’re led by our pitching, and you saw that show up all series. We have timely hits now and then, and that’s the way you win baseball games.”

NOTES: Manager Tony Franklin, still recovering from a bout of chest pains on Thursday, will not travel to Erie with the rest of the team tomorrow. ... Craig Heyer was wearing a soft, claw-like cast around his left hand yesterday, but said it wasn’t affecting his work. ... Tim Norton struck out the side in the ninth. Over 18 2/3 innings, he’s fanned 30 against six walks.

By JAY DUNN
jdunn@trentonian.com

Corban Joseph and the Thunder beat Reading Monday night at Waterfront Park. Trentonian File Photo

TRENTON -- Thunder pitcher Dellin Betances didn’t think he pitched particularly well last night. His manager, Tony Franklin, didn’t think so either.

Try explaining that to the Reading Phillies.

The Eastern League’s strongest franchise was brought to its knees by Betances last night. The six-foot-eight right-hander limited the Phillies to just one hit over the first five innings and paved the way for the Thunder to come away with a 2-0 victory.

“He didn’t have great control tonight,” Franklin observed. “He wasn’t very sharp but he made some pitches when he needed to. That’s the mark of a good pitcher.”

Betances’ lack of control was evident early when he walked two of the first three batters he faced. He then fanned Cody Overbeck, the league’s leading home run hitter, and Carlos Rivero to end the threat. Those two whiffs touched off a streak of nine straight batters retired -- seven of them on strikeouts.

Overbeck reached him for the one hit he allowed -- a liner that fell one bounce in front of left fielder Austin Krum -- with one out in the fourth. Overbeck was caught stealing by catcher Jose Gil, before Betances again became wild, walking two hitters in a row. The inning ended when second baseman Corban Joseph snared a liner off the bat of Michael Spidale.

Betances worked a perfect fifth (although two of the outs were line drives) before giving way to the bullpen.

“It was one of those days,” Betances said. “I was flying open. That’s why I had a couple of walks early and a couple of walks later.”

The Brooklyn-born hurler said he considered his fastball his best pitch even though he logged at least three of his strikeouts with a sharp, biting curve.

The decision to limit his outing to a maximum of five innings was made before the game started. When he left he had thrown 76 pitches, with only 41 of them strikes.

Cory Arbiso and Josh Schmidt followed with a pair of two-inning stints, with Schmidt picking up his first save of the season.

Trenton’s bats weren’t exactly on fire, but they didn’t have to be.

Joseph, leading off the third, picked up Trenton’s first hit. He moved to second on an infield single by Addison Maruszak and came around on fly balls by Ray Kruml and Krum.

An inning later Gil smoked a one-out double off the right field wall. He moved to third on an infield grounder and scored Trenton’s second run on Melky Mesa’s single to right -- a flair off the end of the bat that happened to drop in.

With the luxury of the victory, Franklin was in the enviable position of being able to contemplate what-if.

What if Betances ever refines his raw talent?

“He’s got such good stuff,” the manager wowed. “When he’s in the strike zone with command he can be fantastic.”

The Reading Phillies probably don’t want to be around the day that happens.

TRENTON – Dellin Betances was excellent once again, and the Thunder put together an equally impressive offensive show in a 7-1 win over the Portland Sea Dogs on a chilly night at Waterfront Park.

Betances rode a mid-90s fastball, a hammer curve and an impressive change-up to five solid innings in his best outing of 2011. He fanned five and walked none in throwing 73 pitches, 49 of which found the strike zone.

As the season gets longer, so, too, should the pitch count for Betances. For now, though, the Yankees believe 75 is a good stopping point. And although he has no problem working on such a short leash, Betances knows there’s more in the tank than what he’s using every fifth day.

“I definitely feel like I could go longer,” he said yesterday. “I mean, that’s just something they have me do all the time. I’m definitely not gassed. I feel like I could keep going. Whatever I’ve got next time, I’ll just try to make the best out of it as well.”

The lone damage off of Thunder’s starter came in the fifth, when Mitch Dening caught up with a Betances offering and punched it over the wall in right-center field.

And while excellence is expected from Betances, the same hasn’t been the case for Trenton’s offense, which has scuffled mightily for most of the season.

Cody Johnson and Corban Joseph homered in the second and fourth innings, respectively, before the bats really got cooking in the fifth inning.

After Johnson’s infield single plated one run, Jose Pirela shot a hanging breaking pitch from Tommy Hottovy into the left-center field gap for a bases-clearing three-run double. Addison Maruszak’s single through the middle shortly thereafter scored Pirela and capped a five-run frame.

The five scores in an inning marked a new high for the Thunder, and the five hits matched their output in the second inning of the first half of their doubleheader with Harrisburg on April 17.

Joseph, who also had a triple to go with his longball, knows the offense has been inconsistent to this point, but also believes it has the tools to make last night’s outburst the rule instead of the exception.

“We’re all helping other out. It’s a team-based deal. One person can’t win the whole game,” he said, before providing an interesting tidbit about a lineup goes about helping itself out of a collective slump.

“People with similar stances, similar approaches as you, a similar style of play, you’ll see a lot of connections with those guys, trying to figure out how they pitched the guy before you,” he continued. “We’ll take bits and pieces of really what everyone has seen in the at-bat and just kind of gather it and make a plan and try and produce with that.”

Josh Schmidt, the newest member of Trenton’s bullpen, took the ball from Betances in the sixth and does what he does best: get outs.

The 28-year-old, sent down from Scranton to take Brian Anderson’s spot in the bullpen, spun three one-hit innings before giving way to closer Fernando Hernandez in the ninth.

TRENTON – On September 11, 2001, Dellin Betances was a 13-year-old living and going to school in Manhattan. He was in history class that morning, when terrorists hijacked and piloted jets into both towers of the World Trade Center.

“When that happened, it was kind of surreal,” the Thunder pitcher recounted a day after the United States killed Osama bin Laden, the terrorist mastermind behind that day’s attacks. “I didn’t believe what was going on.”

Because of the maelstrom that shrouded the rest of that day, bus service to and from school was halted, and Betances had to walk home with his family. From his route back to his home on the Lower East Side, he could see the billows coming from the wreckage where the twin towers were smoldering.

“You could definitely see the smoke. It was kind of hard to breathe a little bit. I mean, it wasn’t too far from where I lived. It was probably like 3 to 5 miles away, so it’s not too far away.”

When news broke late last night that bin Laden was dead, Betances was on his way back from New York with teammates Jose Pirela and Melky Mesa. A girlfriend sent him the news via text message.

Like most throughout the country, New Yorkers or otherwise, there was a mix of emotions when it was finally confirmed that Navy SEALs had taken out bin Laden in a brief firefight in his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The foremost feeling was relief but, just like that day nearly a decade ago, it was tinged with an anxious anticipation about what would come next.

“It was just one of things, like, finally. You still don’t know. Hopefully nothing bad happens now, but they definitely got the top guy. It’s something that’s good for the U.S. It’s something that people are proud of the people that got to him.”

Betances is the only New Yorker in the Thunder clubhouse, but he was far from the only one affected by Sunday’s events and the War on Terror as a whole.

Catcher Austin Romine lost his cousin and best friend Jordan Stanton in combat operations in Afghanistan. The story was written recently by Jack Curry of the YES Network, and Romine declined yesterday to rehash the events with reporters.

While his killing obviously brings to an end bin Laden’s reign, whether it brings closure is an issue on which Betances remains uncertain.

“I hope so. I hope nothing bad happens now, but it’s just one of those things that you’ve got to always be careful. Hopefully there’s nothing wrong, and there’s no terrorist attacks in our near future.”

NOTES: Reliever Naoya Okamoto was placed on the disabled list yesterday with an undisclosed injury. He was replaced on the roster by left-hander Wilkins Arias, who had been on the shelf. … Because of bin Laden’s death, the Thunder changed their pregame routing just a little. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited, and on-field members of the team’s staff wore patriotic jerseys normally reserved for Fourth of July games.

The news broke this morning about Dellin Betances hitting the DL with a blister on his right pointer finger. Mark Newman, the Yankees head of player development, didn't seem terribly concerned, saying he expected the pitcher to miss "a start."

He was unavailable before the game -- in the training room, where no media are allowed -- but I caught up to him afterward and got the lowdown on what happened and how he feels.

For what it's worth, his blister looks markedly different than the one on Manny Banuelos' left thumb. Whereas Banuelos' looks like a yellow, pus-y mess, Betances' looks like he simply Sharpied over part of his finger.

On whether he was surprised the team placed him on the DL: "It was their decision. I'm just going with whatever they tell me and the doctors tell me. Whenever they tell me to start throwing, I'll be ready."

On whether he thinks a particular pitch caused the blister: "I was throwing spike curveballs, that's what usually (puts stress on that area). It was just something on Monday that happened. I'll just play it out how it is."

On whether cold weather in New Hampshire had anything to do with it: "No, no. I'm from New York, so I'm used to it."

On whether he'd had a history of problems with blisters in the past: "No. I've never had a problem. I've never had a problem. It's just one of those things. It's unfortunate that it came this early, but it's just a little bump in the road."

On how they treated the blister when it first arose: "We've just been doing a lot of iodine. We're trying to not do too much the last couple of days, just to see how it plays, but I'm sure I'll be throwing here soon."

As for pitchers who are still active, there's Naoya Okamoto, who, along with Kei Igawa, is part of Trenton's tandem of left-handed Japanese relievers. Aside from the first two hitters he faced, Okamoto didn't have a particularly good day on Thursday.

He walked four hitters in an inning, and gave up the final two runs in the Thunder's 4-2 loss to Harrisburg. Here's what he had to say afterward.

On whether anything distracted him out there, leading to the hiccup with his command: “It’s what you saw out there. After two outs, I walked a few batters and that’s about it.”

On whether he lost his mechanics, or the feel for the ball in the cold, or was unnerved by Jose Pirela' error: "No. Not really. I just didn't really feel it today.

Finally, some video of Brian Anderson, the former White Sox first-rounder now pitching with the Thunder

TRENTON – It’s out with the new and in with the old for the Thunder – again. Kevin Millwood, whom the Yankees signed late this offseason, will make his 2011debut on Sunday at Waterfront Park. He’ll take the place of Manny Banuelos, who was placed on the disabled list yesterday with a gnarly blister on his left thumb.

Dellin Betances, the other of the team’s pair of high-echelon starters, was also placed on the shelf yesterday with the same blister problem. In his case, the right pointer finger was the offending digit.

Millwood signed with the Yankees on March 25, less than a week before big league camp broke. He stuck around the minor league complex, along with veteran Mark Prior, and threw bullpen sessions in front of team pitching guru Billy Connors, who will accompany Millwood to Trenton.

No specific rules for Millwood were spelled out yesterday by Thunder manager Tony Franklin or pitching coach Tommy Phelps. It’s a safe bet there will be rules coming, however. Millwood pitched against Phillies minor leaguers earlier in the week.

If he makes it to the major leagues with the Yankees, it will be his sixth major league organization. He’s pitched for Atlanta, Cleveland, Texas, Baltimore and Philadelphia. He pitched a no-hitter for the Phillies on April 27, 2003 against San Francisco.

As for Banuelos and Betances, the blisters don’t seem to be a product of the cold. Banuelos says his troubles began during his last work of the spring, an intrasquad game between the Tampa and Charleston work groups on April 2. Although he was slated for Trenton all along, Banuelos started and pitched 4 2/3 innings for the Tampa group.

Afterward, he says, he noticed the thumb beginning to flare up but he kept it to himself.

“I didn’t tell (anyone) nothing,” he said. “Just after the game, I showed it to the trainer and he was surprised. I didn’t show him before the game. It was hard (to pitch with), especially my fastball.”

He pitched with injury on Monday in the first game of the Thunder’s series with Portland, and made it out of four innings unscathed. His pitch count, not the blister, was the reason for his removal that night, and he didn’t expect to be put on the shelf.

Despite its yellow, exposed appearance, Banuelos says he feels better, and will begin throwing tomorrow, starting with a casual game of catch. If that progresses as planned, he’ll throw a bullpen session on Saturday.

Betances is also expected back next week, possibly as early as Monday, if his rehab measures go as planned.

For his part, Franklin doesn’t seem concerned about losing his two top pitchers before his team has even played its first home game. It is, after all, only April 14.

“How many more games are there this season,” he asked. “There’s no reason to panic being 2-4 right now. I get a little bit concerned over the two pitchers we lost, because they have pretty good futures ahead of them and they need to be pitching. I’m not that concerned about (the start) right now.”

NOTES: Gary Sanchez, the Yankees’ No. 2 prospect according to Baseball America, was placed on the disabled list yesterday in Charleston. The severity of his injury is unknown, but the team called up backstop Nick McCoy from the Charleston roster to take his place. … Brian Anderson, a former outfielder with the White Sox, was called to Trenton to take a spot on the roster. He’ll work out of the bullpen, and operates with a low-to-mid 90s fastball as well as a pair of breaking pitches. ... The rotation after today's game is Graham Stoneburner, Craig Heyer, Kevin Millwood and Steve Garrison.

(TRENTON, NJ) - The Trenton Thunder, Double-A Affiliate of the New York Yankees, announce that OF Damon Sublett has been activated from the Disabled List and that in a corresponding move, LHP Manny Banuelos has been added to the Disabled List, retroactive to April 12.

Sublett started the 2011 season on the Thunder D.L. Last season with Trenton, Sublett appeared in 35 games, batting .214 with 2 HR and 14 RBI.

Banuelos made one start this season, on April 11 in Portland. He pitched four innings and allowed four hits and no runs. In 10 games with Tampa in 2010 he was 0-3 with a 2.23 ERA. The left-hander pitched in three games for Trenton, going 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA.

The Thunder kick-off their opening home stand of the 2011 season with a match-up against the Harrisburg Senators (Washington Nationals) tonight at 7:05 PM. Limited tickets are available for tonight's Opening Night festivities at Waterfornt Park. Secure yours by contacting the Thunder Box Office at 609-394-3300 or by logging on to trentonthunder.com.

All the Thunder action can be heard on the new flagship station for Trenton Thunder baseball, 91.3 WTSR, or online at trentonthunder.com.

Here's today's lineup:

1. Krum - LF
2. Pirela - SS
3. Romine -C
4. Suttle - 3B
5. Johnson - DH
6. Mesa - CF
7. Joseph - 2B
8. Maruszak -1B
9. Kruml -RF
10. Hall - LHSP

Bad injury news: Charleston catcher and Yankees stud prospect is hurt, I have heard. I don't know the severity of the injury yet, but I expect to get details on that later in the evening. He's on the disabled list with the RiverDogs right now.

Additionally, Dellin Betances has been put on the Trenton disabled list with a blister. Mark Newman said he's expected to miss "a start," and he's eligible to come off the shelf on the 18th. I expect him to start that date.