The Thunder's Marcos Vechionacci, pictured here earlier in the season, had two hits in the Thunder's 3-2 win over Harrisburg.

TRENTON - When Hector Noesi first was promoted to Trenton, the hype couldn’t have been higher. He tore up the Florida State League and was poised to add even more power to a rotation that, led by David Phelps, was establishing itself as a dominant force.

The ace of early summer was back in full force last night, cutting through a Harrisburg that, the night before, had its way with Trenton. The result was a 3-2 Thunder win that gave the team a shot in the arm after a deflating loss a night earlier.

Noesi delivered the seven most brilliant innings thrown at Waterfront Park this season, allowing just two hits and no walks and earning his first win since July 4, also against Harrisburg.

“I think that was a magnificent performance from the previous two or three performances,” manager Tony Franklin said afterward. “He was outstanding. Total command of himself, the hitters, the strike zone. That’s major league pitching right there.”

The effort, fueled in part by a mechanical change instilled by pitching coordinator Nardi Contreras, put Noesi firmly back to where he had been before a recent stretch of ugly outings.

From June 1 until July 20 – spanning nine starts – the 23-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic posted a 1.35 ERA, tops in the circuit. He fanned 50 against just 10 bases on balls and compiled a league-best WHIP of 0.90.

After nearly two months in the rotation, he had joined Phelps as the team’s twin aces. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, he went very sour very quickly.

Over his next three starts, opponents hit Noesi like he was throwing batting practice. The league reached him for 19 runs (all earned) in 11 2/3 frames. That works out to a 14.66 ERA, or the worst in the league by more than a run and a half.

In his last start, Tuesday at Altoona, there were positives and negatives. Yes, he gave up 10 hits and a walk over five innings, but he also managed to limit the Curve to a lone run. Whether he was out of his funk was unclear.

That is, until last night, when a lengthening of his stride improved the command of his pitches and their corresponding crispness.

“His stride was shortening,” pitching coach Tommy Phelps said. “Nardi’s the one that picked it up. He came into town and saw him pitch last time, so all we did was lengthen his stride a little bit to get the ball out front and help him finish a lot better.”

A throwing error on catcher Devin Ivany allowed Justin Christian, who had walked to lead off the contest, to score the opening run. A double from Corban Joseph and a single from Marcos Vechionacci in the third brought home the other two scores.

Ryan Pope allowed two runs in the ninth, but got a grounder to short from Somerset native Tim Pahuta to ground weakly into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

NOTES: Rehabbing Yankees reliever Alfredo Aceves will make his second appearance on Tuesday against Bowie. Andrew Brackman will relieve him.

That's Marcos Vechionacci in the picture. He drove in a run yesterday.

By MIKE ASHMORE
For The Trentonian

TRENTON — Sometimes, one good inning is all you need.

The Thunder sent 12 batters to the plate in the third inning, scoring all seven of their runs en route to a 7-2 victory over the Harrisburg Senators. Trenton got six hits in the game — all in the third inning — and only had two baserunners from the fourth inning on.

Senators starter Andrew Kown held Trenton hitless through his first two innings, but allowed eight straight Thunder batters to reach after striking Edwar Gonzalez out to lead off the third frame. Two pitches after a one-out walk to Justin Snyder, Austin Krum gave Trenton a 2-0 lead on a long home run to right field.

For Krum, that marked his fifth home run of the season, and the 64th of the year for the Thunder as a team. Given the fact that last year’s team went deep just 76 times the entire season, and it seems safe to say that year’s club is much more potent offensively.

Luis Nunez continued the onslaught, lacing a triple to right field. Austin Romine then walked, his eighth walk in his last six games, and Brandon Laird followed with his Eastern League-leading 80th RBI of the year on an infield single that plated Nunez to give Trenton a 3-0 advantage.

Daniel Brewer plated Romine on an RBI single, which was followed by a two-run double off the bat of Matthew Cusick that scored Laird and Brewer. Kown’s night came to a merciful end after Marcos Vechionacci’s double scored Cusick and upped Trenton’s lead to seven.

Oddly, as a team, the Thunder hit for the cycle in the third, but no individual player had more than one hit for the entire game.

Lance Pendleton, who will be representing the Thunder at the All-Star Game, allowed just one run in the fifth on a Danny Espinosa double through six innings of work. He threw 105 pitches; 69 of them for strikes, and lowered his ERA from 3.70 to 3.54 with another solid outing.

“I’d like to do better, but you definitely take an outing like that,” Pendleton said.

“I felt real good, and I had a real good rhythm, especially the first three innings. I kind of got out of rhythm after that just a touch, but I managed to get it done.”

Josh Schmidt finished out the game for Trenton and spun the final three frames. Senators right fielder Jesus Valdez knocked in a run on a one-out, bases loaded single in the eighth inning, but Schmidt escaped otherwise unscathed. He pitched out of the eighth inning jam and struck out six Senator batters en route to a nine-out save.

“I knew they were being aggressive, they were swinging at a lot of first pitches,” said Schmidt of the eighth inning jam.

“I tried to just change it up and mix speeds a little bit better. I was getting a little frustrated, but I knew I was getting the swings that I wanted, it just wasn’t working for me for a little while.”

NOTES: D.J. Mitchell (6-3, 4.70) was officially named as David Phelps replacement at the Eastern League All-Star Game. ... Infielder Jeff Natale was added to the Trenton roster from Scranton to replace Phelps, but he is not expected to report, as the move is only temporary.

TRENTON — Replacing David Phelps is not going to be an easy task by any means, but that’s exactly what the Thunder’s relievers were asked to do last night after their team’s ace was promoted to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The bullpen held down the Harrisburg Senators all night long in a 4-1 win in front of 4,218 at Waterfront Park.

“It always comes down to pitching,” Franklin said. “We pitched well tonight but we didn’t hit well tonight, but we’re going to be in some close games. The two years that we won championships it was the pitching, and it always comes down to pitching.”

With the win, the Thunder gain a game on New Hampshire, who were blanked last night by the New Britain Rock Cats.

Possible candidates to replace Phelps long-term include George Kontos, who spent parts of two seasons in the Thunder rotation, and Adam Warren, the Yankees’ fourth-round selection in the 2009 draft.

Kontos, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, has accrued a 3.12 ERA over four appearances — two of which were starts — with High-A Tampa. Warren is 7-5 with a 2.61 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 69 innings in his first full season as a professional.

Wilkin De La Rosa or Ryan Pope, both of whom have started this season, could fill the hole, but manager Tony Franklin indicated before the game that Phelps’ replacement would likely come from outside the current roster.

Cory Arbiso started and limited the Senators to a run on six hits over the first four innings before sitting down for the night.

J.B. Cox entered in the fifth and looked much better than his ghastly 8.59 ERA over five games with High-A Tampa. Using a sinking fastball that sat between 85 and 89 miles per hour, the former second-round pick silenced the Senators. He allowed a hit per inning.

Because Arbiso didn’t go the requisite five innings, the official scorer awarded Cox the victory. It was his first professional win since Aug. 14, 2008, against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. It was first Double-A victory since August 6, 2006, against the Bowie Baysox.

Before the game, Cox, who spent a year away from the game, said it’s been long ride from his low point until last night.

“It’s been really tough,” Cox said. “It’s been an emotional and physical roller-coaster.”

In the seventh, Cox handed the ball to Kevin Whelan, who worked a pair of scoreless innings with two strikeouts.

A curious ball-strike call in the first inning helped turn the inning in Trenton’s favor.

With two outs and a 1-2 count on Austin Romine, Harrisburg starter and former Washington National Ross Detwiler pumped in a fastball that appeared to catch the inside corner. The pitch was so juicy, in fact, that Romine and catcher Jhonatan Soltano both turned and headed to their respective dugouts.

Plate umpire Jon Saphire, however, agreed with neither man and ruled otherwise, audibly calling the pitch inside.

Romine took advantage and worked a walk. Brandon Laird followed suit, and Jose Gil cashed in with a sharp double under the glove of first baseman Chris Marrero that brought Romine home.

The Thunder upped their advantage in the second inning on a two-run double from leadoff man Dan Brewer.

Edwar Gonzalez connected on a solo home run in the eighth, and Ryan Pope worked the ninth to seal the game and earn his second save.