TRENTON- Dan Camarena has been solid for the Thunder all year. The lefty has had his way with most of the Eastern League this season. But when he does get in trouble, it is usually in the form of one big inning a game. Take his start last week against Akron, for example. Camarena was touched up for six runs...
TRENTON- Dan Camarena has been solid for the Thunder all year.
The lefty has had his way with most of the Eastern League this season. But when he does get in trouble, it is usually in the form of one big inning a game.
Take his start last week against Akron, for example. Camarena was touched up for six runs (five earned) in the first inning, but battled back to keep Trenton in the contest. Although the Thunder eventually lost 6-5, it was a lone inning that ended up costing Camarena.
Monday, it was the third inning that could have went sideways for the lefty. But Camarena worked out of it, and won a big start for Trenton, in its first game of three with Bowie. Camarena went six innings, allowing just one run, in the 5-2 win. It moved him to 9-5 with the Thunder, after missing all of last year through injury.
"It was huge," Camarena said. "The times that I have struggled this year, it has just been that one inning that really, really gets to me. But instead of slowing down too much, where I think too much, I just pitched, and was able to get through that and help the team."
I caught a good rhythm yesterday, and it was a good win for the team," Camarena said.
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The win gave the Thunder an eight game lead, with just 14 games to play, over Hartford for a playoff spot. It also cut the Eastern Division lead to just 3.5 games, with a season-ending series against Reading looming in the distance.
"I think we are getting our rhythm back, so to speak," Camarena said. "Every team is going to go through that, whether it is the pitching or the hitting. I am glad we got it out of the way. If that was the worst of it, then we are good to go for the rest of the season."
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With the depth of the pitching this Trenton team has played with all year, it is no wonder that there have not been too many prolonged slumps this year for the team. Coming out of a tough week, where the Thunder lost six out of seven, the starting pitching has once again been top notch over the past four games.
"I think that how it was at the beginning of the year, with all the guys we had," Camarena said. "It was one after another after another, putting up zero, zero, zero. It became a joke. Who is going to give up more hits tonight, not even runs."
"Ronald Herrera two or three days ago just had a great outing," Camarena said. "I was just following it up. I think that is exactly what it is. We want to keep getting outs, and once we catch our rhythm, I think it is pretty hard to beat us."
For Camarena, who missed the 2015 season after bone spurs were removed from his elbow, just to be here playing a crucial role in a playoff team is fun.
"For me, not playing at all last year was tough," Camarena said. "Just being out here is fun. That is how it was at the beginning of the year for me. We have two or three more weeks left of this, and then I will be hanging out at home, on the beach somewhere."
"It is awesome," Camarena said. 'In my four or five years of pro baseball, I haven't been in a playoff game. I always wanted one. Throughout high school, and travel ball, the playoffs were always intense games. That has been the one thing that I have been lacking, and I am looking forward to it. I think everybody in that clubhouse it too."
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Trenton beat Bowie 3-1 Tuesday, and now holds a nine game lead with 13 to play. The champagne is almost on ice, and the Thunder can clinch a playoff spot before the weekend if things go their way. At 80-49, this can be a special year for the team from Trenton.
Contact Sean Miller at seanmillertrentontimes@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheProdigalSean