Long Fantastic in Trenton's 5-1 Victory over Akron
Trenton Thunder starting pitcher Jaron Long worked quickly and efficiently to shut down the Akron RubberDucks early in Sunday's game, which helped the Thunder secure a 5-1 matinee victory.
In his second appearance with the team and his first Double-A start, Long pitched brilliantly into the 7th inning before being lifted after 97 pitches. With one out in the seventh inning, the Thunder righty had allowed three hits and had faced just two batters over the minimum to that point in the game before loading the bases with three straight singles. Then, with the Thunder leading 4-1, Long walked Ronny Rodriguez to bring home the first run of the game and end his night.
Lefty James Pazos entered and struck out the first batter he faced, Jordan Smith. And with the bases still loaded and two outs, Trenton catcher Francisco Arcia snapped a throw down to first base to pick-off Rodriguez and end the threat. With Trenton in the lead, that positioned Long for his second win of the season in two appearances.
Against Pazos, the Akron would not bring the tying run to the plate the rest of the game, and the University of San Diego product earned his fourth save of the season.
Offensively, Trenton battered Akron starting pitcher Duke von Schamann for five runs on ten hits in his outing in which he picked up the loss and dropped his record to 3-5. Rob Segedin finished 3-for-4 to bring his season average to .265 and Jose Toussen (2-for-4) collected the only other multi-hit game in Trenton's 11-hit barrage.
The Thunder return to action Monday for their final game of a four-game series against the RubberDucks and their final game of the first half of the season. Monday's game is a scheduled 12:05 p.m. first pitch with the Trenton Thunder pre-game show beginning at 11:45 a.m. Coverage of the game can be found on 91.3 FM or online at www.trentonthunder.com.