Thunder Slam Door on Altoona's Sweep Bid, 4-3

CURVE, PA - The Trenton Thunder avoided being swept at the hands of the Altoona Curve by defeating the Curve 4-3 Thursday night at People's Natural Gas Field.

Powered by an early blast from Greg Bird, the Thunder got just enough pitching down the stretch to hang on for the win before 5,070 fans hoping to see another Altoona victory. With the Thunder leading 4-2 entering the bottom of the 8th inning, Phil Wetherell allowed a run on four hits but escaped his second inning of work with the Thunder still leading by a run.

Mark Montgomery entered and notched his second save in as many opportunities for the Thunder with a 1-2-3 9th inning that featured consecutive strikeouts to end the ballgame. The victory goes to starting pitcher Daniel Camarena who improves to 1-5 with his first career Double-A victory. On 92 pitches (59 strikes), the southpaw allowed two runs in 6.0 innings and exited with Trenton ahead 4-2. Though he danced with nine base-runners over six innings, a pair of inning-ending double plays helped him escape further damage in both the 4th and 5th innings.

Offensively, the game began with a leadoff double by Jake Cave to right-center field. After being sacrificed to third base by Ben Gamel, Bird lifted a fly ball to left field that carried to the second row of bleachers for a two-run homer. It was the fourth home run for Bird in 11 games with the Thunder and the first with a runner on base.

Trenton added two more runs in the 7th inning with two outs on a Gamel double and Tyler Austin single who finished 1-for-3 with a walk in the game.

The win for the Thunder was the team's first in Altoona since June 2012 after being swept away from home by the Curve in 2013 and losing the first two of the three-game series. The Thunder complete the season series 4-5 against the Curve and have now dropped the season series to the Curve for the fourth straight season. Since the 2011 season, Trenton is 16-24 (.400) against the Curve.

Trenton gets back to action Friday to continue its three-game series against the Altoona Curve. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. with a 6:45 p.m. Trenton Thunder pre-game show which can be heard on 91.3 FM or on www.trentonthunder.com.