TRENTON- With the Reading Phillies and the Phillie Phanatic in town for the first of a four game set Thursday night, the Thunder hoped to put a two-game losing streak behind them. In front of the first near capacity crowd of the season (7,368), Trenton fell 3-0 to Reading (23-11). Fightin Phils starter Ricardo Pinto (1-1) was dominant, as...
TRENTON- With the Reading Phillies and the Phillie Phanatic in town for the first of a four game set Thursday night, the Thunder hoped to put a two-game losing streak behind them.
In front of the first near capacity crowd of the season (7,368), Trenton fell 3-0 to Reading (23-11).
Fightin Phils starter Ricardo Pinto (1-1) was dominant, as he carried a no-hitter into the bottom of the seventh inning before Tyler Austin singled to lead off the frame.
The Thunder ended the game with three hits against Pinto and reliever Hoby Milner, who has yet to allow a run in 19.2 innings split between Reading and Lehigh Valley, the Phillies Triple A affiliate.
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Jared Mitchell had his average up to .273 before the game, and with the departure of Jake Cave to Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, the former first round pick of the Chicago White Sox should get a chance to get an extended run in the lineup for the Thunder (17-15).
Mitchell, who went 0-for-3 with a walk, was in left field and batting cleanup Thursday night. He was relishing the chance to play in front a big crowd.
"I think it will be great, with the weekend coming up," Mitchell said. "It is always good in baseball. We have good weather, and a pretty good team coming in, so we are excited."
With the weather finally starting to turn warm, it feels much more like baseball season. There have been some miserable nights so far, including a game fogged out in Erie and multiple rain outs. But it was 77 degrees at game-time Thursday, and with it came the prospect of the bats starting to get hot.
"That always helps," Mitchell said about the warm weather. "But it is all a process. Everyone is here working hard, but we just have to stick to the process, and keep going from there."
Mitchell won national titles at LSU in two sports. He played on the 2007 BCS National Champion Tigers football team, then lead the 2009 baseball team to a title in Omaha, where he was named the Most Outstanding Player.
How did his time on the gridiron help him become a better professional baseball player?
"It is a mindset," Mitchell said. "It is a tough mindset. It is a tough world to live in. Every day is a grind. I can bring a lot of what I learned to this, because it is the same grind here. I think in those ways it is pretty similar."
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The Thunder came into the series Thursday trailing Reading by four games in the standings.
For Trenton manager Bobby Mitchell, it is a good time to make up some ground, albeit early in the season.
"I have seen it (the standings)," Mitchell said. "This definitely would be (a chance to make up some ground). I like playing the those guys that are ahead of you, because then you have control over what you are doing."
"You can make up your own ground on your own," Mitchell said. "When we would win before sometimes, they would win, and it is just hard. But this is a good team. They are leading the league in hitting, and are third in pitching. They are doing something right, obviously. I think we are competitive with everybody, and that is why they play the games."
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With the Phanatic in town, Bobby Mitchell was asked which was his favorite mascot in his time in baseball.
"Way back when, the San Diego Chicken was pretty cool," Mitchell said jokingly. "Then he started traveling to the minors, and it got a little old. But initially, he was pretty good. But the Phanatic does a good job."
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean