When he looked at the box score after the game, even manager Tony Franklin couldn't believe his eyes -- Yadil Mujica's night was just that good. The Cuban defector -- who signed with the Yankees so late that he is not included in the team's media guide -- was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, a run and four big RBIs.

That the outburst came a game after an ill-advised bunt attempt (and a headlong slide into first, to boot) with two outs in the bottom of the 12th inning and the tying run on second base speaks a little to his character and a lot to his ability to rebound.

Unfortunately, because he speaks no English, and with hitting coach Julius Matos banished to Tampa for the foreseeable future, there is almost nobody on the team capable of acting as a translator for Mujica, or any of the Spanish-speakers in the clubhouse, for that matter.

Dellin Betances is the best candidate, but he was gone before the media were done speaking with Franklin.

The same problem exists for Japanese lefty Naoya Okamoto, who lost his interpreter when Kei Igawa was promoted to Scranton. Okamoto, for what it's worth, pitched another stellar inning and two-thirds last night, allowing just one unearned run.

Other quick notes:

- Shaeffer Hall rebounded from a rocky first couple of innings to throw six frames of two-run ball, though the four walks showed that he didn't have his best command.

- With Hall, Okamoto and Wilkins Arias, the Thunder used solely southpaws on Tuesday. Combined, the trio induced 14 groundouts against just four flyouts.

- Jason Place was 3-for-4 with a run scored, and two of his hits were infield singles.

- Jose Pirela had another pair of knocks, including a double. He's hitting .346/.393/.577 in June after hitting just .164 and .196 in April and May, respectively. He did, however, commit his 17th error of the season, this time on a relatively routine grounder.

- Corban Joseph is hitting .317/.404/.537 over his last 10 games. He has six doubles, a homer and seven RBIs. Perhaps more impressively, he's walked six times and fanned just five.

- Over his last 10 appearances, Arias has whiffed 17 and walked just three.

- The game itself lasted 2 hours and 48 minutes. There were, however, two rain delays of 60 and 28 minutes, respectively. During the hourlong wait, which came before the game started, almost no rain fell.

The Thunder won today, 13-7, over the Binghamton Mets. It was the team's 10th straight win, and provides a huge helping of momentum as the team heads into a seven-game string with division leading New Hampshire and third-place Portland, who are just a half game back of the Thunder for second in the EL East. Here is the game story.

- Brandon Laird had a grand slam and a three-run home run, totaling seven RBIs. It was the fifth multi-homer game of Laird's career. He had three with Charleston, and one with the Gulf Coast League Yankees. He also did it in front of his parents and grandparents.

- Laird's seven RBIs give him 36 for the season, best in the Eastern League.

- In addition to Laird's two bombs, Dan Brewer and Edwar Gonzalez also went deep. The four home runs mark a season high for the Thunder.

- Ryan Pope made his first appearance out of the bullpen. He was perfect for two innings, including four strikeouts. For now, it does not appear he will be used in the late innings. Those slots, manager Tony Franklin said, will be filled by Eric Wordekemper and Grant Duff. I expect Pope to assume a Josh Schmidt-esque, jack-of-all-trades type of role.

Here's some video of Pope fanning Jose Coronado yesterday:

- It was mascot Boomer's birthday today, and several mascots were in the house to help celebrate. The ones I could identify were: Scorch (Trenton Devils), the Rutgers Scarlet Knight, a Canada Goose from Wawa, Buster (Lakewood BlueClaws) and a Philadelphia Wings mascot.

- In the other big news of the day, Yankees prospect Hector Noesi was promoted to Trenton, pushing Ryan Pope out of the rotation. Noesi, who was suspended for the first 50 games of the 2007 season, was 5-2 with a 2.72 ERA. He fanned 53 in 43 innings, and walked just six.
Here's the link to that story.

Here's some postgame audio from (top down) Jeremy Bleich, Brandon Laird, Austin Romine and Tony Franklin:

This win was a total team effort. Every starter but Marcos Vechionacci had at least one hit or RBI, and, aside from a little hiccup from Cory Arbiso with the bases loaded, the pitching was stellar throughout. The Thunder also played error-free baseball and turned two double plays.

Here's a reminder that tomorrow's starter is Jeremy Bleich, not the originally scheduled Ryan Pope. Pope will be moving to the bullpen for the remainder of the series to help give the team a needed lift. They've been down a man since Josh Schmidt was sent to Scranton.

The combination of team on a hot streak, the Mets' minor leaguers in town, postgame fireworks and the best weather all year brought in the biggest crowd of the season, 7,853. Afterward, PR extraordinaire Bill Cook noted that last night's crowd was the biggest walk-up in two years. Impressive stuff.

Here are the postgame sessions with (from top) D.J. Mitchell, Austin Romine and Tony Franklin.