By MIKE ASHMORE
For The Trentonian

TRENTON — This was a big loss in more ways than one for the Thunder.

Their 10-4 defeat at the hands of the Akron Aeros last night was both large in margin and significance. Matt Liuzza hit a tenth inning walk-off home run to lead the Fisher Cats past Harrisburg, 1-0, and cut the Thunder’s division lead over New Hampshire to just a half a game.

A 33-minute first inning set the tone for a long, painful loss. Trenton starter Cory Arbiso picked a bad time to turn in his worst outing of the year, and things went south quickly for him.

Aeros designated hitter Jerad Head’s RBI single accounted for the first run of the game, but first baseman Beau Mills delivered the first of many big blows off of Arbiso, sending a three-run blast over the right field wall and into the river to give Akron a 4-0 lead in the first inning.

Trenton tacked on two runs on back-to-back singles by Austin Romine and Marcos Vechionacci to cut the deficit in half in the bottom part of the frame, but the Aeros would not relent. Akron put up crooked numbers in each of the next four innings, boosting their advantage to 10-4 after the fifth inning was over.

With a short bullpen — the relief core was down two men with the call-ups of George Kontos and John Van Benschoten to Scranton -- Arbiso was forced to take one for the team. The line wasn’t pretty: 4+ IP, 13 H, 10 R, 9 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 1 HR.

“I just couldn’t command the strike zone,” Arbiso said.

“Usually I can command my fastball, and you need to command your fastball here in Double-A or else it’s going to hurt. That’s what happened today.”

After Arbiso’s outing, Wilkins Arias and J.B. Cox stopped the bleeding with four innings of scoreless relief, but it was too little, too late for the Thunder, who fell to 79-57 on the season.

Just how short was the bullpen? Infielder Justin Snyder made his professional pitching debut in the ninth inning. Snyder spun a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and one walk.

Lance Berkman, on the back end of a two-game rehab stint with the Thunder, went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Overall, he went 2-for-8 with a run scored, a walk and three strikeouts in Trenton’s first position player rehab since Jose Molina’s appearance late last season.

The first baseman, acquired from the Houston Astros at the trade deadline, has been on the disabled list since August 19 (retroactive to 8/15) with an ankle sprain. He’s heading back to the Bronx today when rosters expand.

“I felt fine, the ankle is fine,” Berkman said. “There’s nothing wrong there. It was just good to come down to come down and get a couple at-bats. I’m ready to come back up there.”

NOTES: Outfielder Edwar Gonzalez was called up to Triple-A Scranton after the game. The Thunder are not expected to immediately replace him on the roster.

Real quick, here's a video of two firsts: Adam Warren's first strikeout and Lance Berkman's first hit.

TRENTON — When the Mitchell Report came out in 2007, it contained the names of 89 documented abusers of performance-enhancing drugs. The names ranged from superstars like Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte, to also-rans like F.P. Santangelo and Randy Velarde.

Fans’ reactions ranged from sadness to shock to anger. So many of their favorite players, whom they’d shelled out wallet-loads of money in a collapsing economy to see play, were cheating.

When Lance Berkman, who yesterday began a two-day rehab stint with the Thunder, saw the list, however, there weren’t many surprises.

“Let me say this, I don’t know anybody’s name that I heard (in the Mitchell Report) that I didn’t think so … in other words, I didn’t think anybody wasn’t using that came out,” Berkman said. “If your name was on that list, those were a lot of the guys I suspected myself when it started to all come out. There wasn’t anybody where I was like, ‘Oh man, I know he didn’t do it, so why is he on that list?’”

These comments come on the heels of the arraignment of Roger Clemens, a teammate of Berkman’s from 2004 until 2006, who is facing charges of lying to Congress while denying that he ever used steroids.

Because Clemens’ denials have been so prolific and impassioned, Berkman says, he is willing to extend the pitcher a certain amount of goodwill when it comes to passing judgment on his guilt or innocence. Even so, he says, that goodwill is by no means absolute.

“Roger’s a guy that has been vehement in his denial, and he’s a friend of mine, so I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt until this thing kind of resolves itself,” he explained. “Because of that, if he was found guilty of doing whatever it is, it’s not like I’d be so surprised that I’d fall over and faint or something. But, by the same token, I’m willing to give him every benefit of the doubt.”

For current Yankees pitcher and borderline Hall of Famer Andy Pettitte, who also shared a clubhouse with Clemens, the courtesy extends a little further. He doesn’t agree with Pettitte’s action, but because it wasn’t prolonged and was allegedly done with the sole intent of speeding his recovery time, he understands.

“Andy (Pettitte) and I are as good as friends as you can possibly be. He’s probably my best friend,” Berkman said. “I was surprised, but once I found out more about the reasoning behind it … obviously, I can say this, but nobody will buy into it: There’s a difference between taking steroids for the purpose of enhancing your performance; taking a cycle — and what Andy did, which was take HGH, that’s a different deal for the purpose of trying to come back from an injury.”

The major difference between Clemens and Pettitte, of course, is that Pettitte was willing to fess up to his wrongdoing while Clemens has maintained his innocence for the last three years and is willing to risk time in a federal prison to keep his name in the clear.

It’s that unflagging honesty on the part of the left-hander that has earned him Berkman’s trust and respect and in his eyes, it’s what sets him apart from guys like Barry Bonds and others who have gone out of their way to be deceptive in the face of controversy.

“I think a lot of it has to do with the way the situation is handled. It speaks to Andy’s character that he was willing to say he made a mistake. Here’s what I did, let me completely honest about this to the detriment of me and my friends and family and let me be honest and above board about this.

“Most people feel like Barry and some of the other guys are hiding something and they’re unwilling to admit to any wrongdoing at all and they’re hiding behind lawyers and it’s just shenanigans. People can see through that, and I think they don’t appreciate it. That’s why they may give a different reaction for Andy than you would for other guys.”

TRENTON – Yankees utility man Lance Berkman will join the Thunder for a two-game rehab stint starting with tonight’s game against the Akron Aeros.

Berkman, who has been on the disabled list since Aug. 19 with a sprained right ankle suffered in a game against the Detroit Tigers, was acquired just before the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31.

The Yankees sent reliever and former Thunder pitcher Mark Melancon, as well as Low-A shortstop Jimmy Paredes to Houston to complete the deal.

The first baseman did some light running before today’s game with the White Sox. The ankle held up, and the Yankees made the call to assign him to Trenton, one of just two affiliates playing at home tomorrow. The other option was the Charleston RiverDogs, but their distance from New York makes sending him there less than desirable.

Berkman’s arrival could give a much-needed boost to a lineup that has struggled mightily over the last week. Over their last six games entering yesterday, the Thunder have averaged just more than two runs a game. They scored three or fewer runs in five of those six contests.

Before going on the shelf, the switch-hitting Berkman was hitting .179 with four RBIs with the Yankees. With his numbers from Houston thrown in, he’s at .237 with 13 longballs and 53 RBIs over 97 games.

This will be the Thunder’s second rehab assignment this season. The first one, of course, was right-hander Alfredo Aceves, who made four rehab appearances in Trenton before moving up to Triple-A.

The last time a Yankees hitter joined the Thunder was last year, when Jose Molina joined the team for three games. He went hitless with two walks over nine plate appearances.

John Maine also made a rehab appearance at Waterfront Park as a member of the Binghamton Mets.

As has been reported by multiple sources, the Yankees are on the verge of landing OF/1B Lance Berkman from Houston. The two players involved haven't been named so far, but when they do, you'll know where to look.

The lineup today:

Christian - LF
Krum - CF
Romine - C
Laird - 3B
Brewer - RF
Vechionacci - 1B
Cusick - DH
Nunez - SS
Snyder 2B
Noesi - P

Stay tuned for any changes.

6:34: Jimmy Paredes has been scratched from the lineup in Charleston. That's weird, considering they just landed a speedy shortstop from the Phillies for Oswalt. Also, Kevin Russo is not in Scranton's lineup.

Russo and Paredes is an interesting package for sure. Pretty darn cheap, but that's apparently how the Astros work these days.

6:46: Here's video of Jimmy Paredes, one of the players who seems to be headed Houston's way. He's only there for one pitch against Lakewood's Brody Colvin, but it's what I have.



9:11 The New York Post is now reporting that Mark Melancon, not Kevin Russo, is in the deal for Berkman. Nice kid, that Melancon, but certainly expendable.