TRENTON – Even after suffering a hard-luck loss to Dellin Betances and the Thunder on Wednesday in the opening game of the Eastern League Division Series, Kyle Drabek is adamant that his Fisher Cats are the cream of the crop.

“Our team is still confident,” Drabek said Wednesday night. “We feel like we’re the best team in this league. It’s a big loss. You don’t want to lose the first game in a playoff series.”

Drabek held Trenton to one run on three hits and a pair of free passes, but it wasn’t enough against Betances, who, although it wasn’t particularly pretty at times, got the better of Toronto’s top prospect.

Drabek’s downfall in Game 1 was command. He went to 2-0 or worse on every hitter in the first inning, but was able to retire them all. He wasn’t as lucky in the fourth, when a four-pitch walk to Austin Krum led to the eventual game-winning score.

“I had trouble throwing strikes and a leadoff walk is never good,” he said, “then they put a few hits together and were able to get (the run) in.”

Because there are no off days in this series, Drabek is reduced to a spectator for the remainder. Still, he’s got no worries about his teammates’ ability to battle back and move on to the E.L. Championship Series, which would be played against either Harrisburg or Altoona.

“This is a great team and everyone gets along great. After games, you have your downtime and focus on (today),” Drabek said, before reminding himself that New Hampshire’s 17-6 regular-season record against the Thunder won’t play much of a role in the outcome of the series. “I don’t think us beating them a bunch in the regular season comes into this series. This is a playoff series, so every win is big.”

Sure, Manny Banuelos gave up six runs over 5 2/3 innings, including two laser beams of home runs, but the stuff he showed was more important last night. Watch the video of him pitching against Darin Mastroianni, and look at Mastroianni's reaction to the curveballs Banuelos flings up there for strikes two and three. Those are big league pitches, folks.

Then, skip down a video and check out how he carves up Eric Thames, one of the circuit's most feared sluggers. He gets down in the count, then finishes him with a heater on the black. This is a 19-year-old, folks.

Afterward, here's what Tony Franklin had to say about his new arm:

“You can see the stuff, it’s there. Great changeup, no question about it. Great motion on it. Curveball was tight. It lost a little bit because of the wetness. But you could see the stuff is there.”

As for Banuelos, he gave the reporters in the room a little bit of shock when he said his arm didn't feel right, but clarified by saying the wing felt heavy, not painful. He said all this through coach Vic Valencia acting as interpreter.

“I didn’t feel that well with my body and my arm today. Also, the mound was wet and the ball was wet, so I couldn’t command my pitches well.”

“I didn’t have any pain in my arm, I didn’t feel any pain. It just felt heavy. That’s probably why the velocity was what I normally throw. But I kept pitching.”

Tonight, the show starts anew with Dellin Betances scheduled to debut. The forecast, once again, is for rain, so it could get interesting. Alfredo Aceves, also, will relieve for two innings, so be on the lookout for that.

Tonight: Ryan Pope (0-0, 1.80) vs. Kyle Drabek (1-1, 5.06)
Tomorrow: Jeremy Bleich (1-0, 1.46) vs. Zach Stewart (1-1, 7.71)
Wednesday: David Phelps (1-0, 1.59) vs. Marty McLeary (0-1, 18.90)

WHO'S HOT:

Thunder: Bleich has looked very much like he's put his terrible 2009 behind him. Five walks in 12 1/3 innings, however, means command may still be something to work on. The six hits in the same time frame have counteracted the walks, though, and kept his WHIP at an excellent 0.89. ... David Adams' average has dropped to .368, but that figure -- and his .979 OPS -- is still good for the team lead. ... Damon Sublett has four hits this year, but two are homers. ... Brandon Laird hit his first home run yesterday, perhaps a sign that he's heating up.

Fisher Cats: Brad Emaus is hitting .375 (9-for-24) with a team-high eight RBIs. He also sports an otherworldly .500 on-base percentage. ... Catcher Brian Jeroloman is hitting .321/.387/.936. ... David Cooper and Jonathan Diaz each have three doubles. ... The Thunder should be thankful they are not facing Luis Perez, who is 2-0 with an ERA of 0.47. ... Daniel Farquhar has three saves.

Notes: McLeary has racked up that 18.90 ERA without giving up a home run. ... New Hampshire's roster features Adam Loewen, the former Orioles pitcher who is trying to make it back to the majors as an outfielder. ... Drabek faced the Thunder once last season with Reading. He went five innings, gave up two runs and got the win. ... The following Thunder have faced McLeary: Austin Krum (1-for-2, BB, 3B, RBI), Marcos Vechionacci (0-for-2, BB), Justin Snyder (0-for-2).

After leaving the Waterfront Park at around 2:00, I wrote my game story and sidebar, got in the car and headed toward the Pennsylvania Turnpike to watch Phillippe Aumont and the Reading Phillies take on Kyle Drabek and the New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

I got lots of pics and video before the game, which I will post when I get chance. For now, I'll just treat this like a standard live blog. That said, here are your lineups:

Fisher Cats
CF - Mastroianni
LF - Calderone
1B - Cooper
3B - Emaus
DH - Thames
RF - Loewen
SS - Diaz
C - Jeroloman
2B -Sanchez

R-Phils
CF - Gillies
SS - Galvis
RF - Brown
DH - Bozied
1B - Mahar
3B - Pinckney
2B - Dorta
LF - Spidale
C - Nelson

First inning: Aumont gives up back-to-back singles to Darin Mastroianni and Adam Calderone. Mastroianni stole a base in the middle and scored on Calderone's hit. Brad Emaus gave a ball a ride that was caught at the wall in left field. All in all, Aumont looked a little shaky.
Fisher Cats 1, R-Phils 0

In the bottom half, Tyson Gillies, who can absolutely fly, tripled off of Drabek.
Freddy Galvis promptly drove him home with a single.
Fisher Cats 1, R-Phils 1

Second inning: This is not turning out to be the pitchers' duel one would have hoped for. Aumont gave up another run in the second, this one coming courtesy of three straight hits from Adam Loewen, Jonathan Diaz and Brian Jeroloman.

Drabek gives the lead right back though, on a sacrifice fly to center from Michael Spidale.
Fisher Cats 2, R-Phils 2

Third inning: Now this is more like it. Aumont fanned two men in the top of the inning. The pitch was so nasty on David Cooper that, after the ump rang him up, he complained a little too loudly and got ejected.

In the bottom half, Drabek dispatched of Tyson Gillies on three pitches, then got Freddy Galvis and Domonic Brown to pop to shortstop.

Fourth inning: Aumont appears to be settling in. He got Thames, Loewen and Diaz quickly on a fly to center and groundouts to second and short.

Drabek gave up a two-out bomb to Brandon Pinckney, but coaxed a flyout from Melvin Dorta to end the inning.
Fisher Cats 3, R-Phils 2

Fifth inning: Phew! That was a long one. Aumont caught a case of wildness and allowed the tying run to score on a wild pitch after getting two quick outs.

Drabek retired the Phillies 1-2-3 in the bottom half.
Fisher Cats 3, R-Phils 3

Sixth inning: Aumont got the first two outs, then lost the strike zone and was replaced by Matt German, who fanned the only man he faced.

Drabek, however, lost it. He gave up a long sacrifice fly to Kevin Mahar and then allowed a three-run double to Michael Spidale.
R-Phils 7, Fisher Cats 3

Both pitchers are out now, so I'm going to focus on uploading video. Thanks for playing along.