RESULTS

Thursday: Portland 3, Thunder 2
Friday: Thunder 9, Portland 1
Saturday: Portland 5, Thunder 2
Sunday: Portland 9, Thunder 5

Key to the Series: Relief pitching, and Lars Anderson. Noel Castillo twice allowed tie-breaking home runs to the Portland first baseman.Wilkin De La Rosa, stellar up until this point, also blew two saves in the set. In his 3 1/3 innings, the left-hander gave up three earned runs on seven hits and three walks. When your seventh- and eighth-inning guys are giving up runs left and right, the team is obviously not going to be successful.

Honorable mention: If there was anything good about this series for the home team, it was the emergence of Austin Romine and Brandon Laird as middle-of-the-order threats. Here are the stat lines for each man during the four-game set.

Romine: 5-for-13, four doubles, three walks, RBI
Laird: 5-for-16, double, two home runs, seven RBIs, two walks

As an additional note, courtesy of Jay Dunn, Laird has been super clutch this year. With runners in scoring position and two outs, the third baseman is hitting 5-for-11 with 7 RBIs.

Good morning.

The thunder lost yesterday, 9-5, to the Portland Sea Dogs. Once again, Noel Castillo gave up a tie-breaking home run to Portland first baseman Lars Anderson, who, by the way, is the living embodiment of the California surfer dude stereotype.

Here is the link to the game story.

I also wrote a sidebar about Christian Garcia, who on April 20 underwent his second Tommy John procedure on his right elbow. There are also notes in that story about Jeremy Bleich's struggles with command, and a brief scare for Austin Romine.

Here's the link to that one.

Additionally, I also shot some video of local dogs and their owners for Bark in the Park day at Waterfront Park. For your viewing pleasure, here it is:

Good morning, everybody.

After a long night of sleep after a long day of travel back from Tampa (someone should have told me before I got up at 3:15 that the Tampa Airport gates don't open until 4:30), it's back to work.

Today's main goal will be acquiring and posting the roster. I know it's out there, it's just a matter of pestering the right sources long enough. This, fair readers, is what I will do for you.

Like I said on Saturday night, after confirming about two thirds of the roster, I expect the rest of the team to shake down this way:

C - Jose Gil
1B - Kevin Smith
SS - Walter Ibarra
IF - Luis Nunez
RP - Pat Venditte
RP - Grant Duff
RP - Phil Bartleski
RP - Adam Olbrychowski

That said, it wouldn't surprise me if Nunez or Ibarra were replaced by Marcos Vechionacci, or two of the relievers were replaced by Wilkins Arias and Noel Castillo, especially considering both of them spent the entire camp with the Double-A work group.

Until the roster comes out, however, here's a few more pics from the trip to tide you over (I took 524 pics down there, according to my camera). Clockwise from top, Ramiro Pena signing autographs, Andy Pettitte lounging in the bullpen, Justin Snyder talking things over with Jody Reed, and Tony Franklin throwing BP.

A little offense this time, but not enough pitching to stave off a tie.

PITCHING
David Phelps: 3 innings, 2 runs
Noel Castillo: 3 innings, 0 runs
Brad Rulon: 1 inning, 0 runs
HITTING
Dan Brewer: Solo HR
Jose Gil: Single, Run
Ray Kruml: Triple, RBI, Run
Kevin Smith: Single, RBI
Luis Nunez: Double, RBI
Walter Ibarra: Single

Opening Day at Waterfront Park is just more than two weeks away, and there are many questions that still need answers.

How will the rotation shake out?

Will Brandon Laird play first or third base?

How about shortstop?

Where does Myron Leslie fit?

All these questions — as well as many others — will be addressed starting a week from today, when I travel to Tampa, Fla. to kick off The Trentonian’s coverage of Thunder spring training.
Over those four days, I’ll be working hard to glean every piece of information needed to provide the clearest picture possible of what the team will look like come April 8.

I’ll be in attendance at the Yankees game with the Minnesota Twins on March 31, the Thunder’s home games against the Pirates and Blue Jays, respectively, on April 1 and 2, and the Yankees vs. Future Yankees game on April 3 at George M. Steinbrenner Field.

Look for coverage on Twitter (jnorris427), on my blog, through videos on The Trentonian’s Web site, and, of course, in the paper itself.
•••
The Thunder lost yesterday, 4-1, against the Blue Jays’ Double-A work group. Here are few notable stats from the game, provided by the team through trainer Tim Lentych.
Pitching
D.J. Mitchell: 3 IP, 3 runs
Noel Castillo: 2 IP, 1 run
Jonathan Hovis: 2 IP, 0 runs
Pat Venditte: 2 IP, 0 runs
Hitting
Austin Romine: Single
Walter Ibarra: Single
Ray Kruml: Single, RBI
Jeff Farnham: Double, run