Cave, Stevenson Belt First Homers in 7-3 Win

The Thunder earned a split of their four-game series with the Binghamton Mets with a 7-3 victory at ARM & HAMMER Park on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Thunder and B-Mets split their season series at 4-4.

Manny Banuelos threw the first four innings for the Thunder and earned a no-decision. The left-hander did not allow a hit despite surrendering a third inning run. A throwing error by Banuelos extended the inning for Binghamton and Rylan Sandoval scored Travis Taijeron with a ground out.

The 1-0 lead for the B-Mets did not last for long as Jake Cave hit his first Double-A home run, a solo shot, on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the third inning from B-Mets starter Rainy Lara.

The Thunder grabbed the lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Casey Stevenson homered for the first time this season to lead off the frame. Back-to-back singles by Ali Castillo and Cave put runners on the corners for Ben Gamel. Gamel lifted a sacrifice fly to left to take a 3-1 advantage.

Binghamton cut their deficit in half when Jayce Boyd singled in T.J. Rivera in the top of the sixth. Danny Burawa, transferred from Triple-A Scranton before the game, allowed a run on two hits in his first appearance with the Thunder in 2014.

The Thunder pulled away in the bottom of the sixth against Rainy Lara. With two outs, Jose Toussen scored Mason Williams with a double down the third base line. Casey Stevenson followed with a run-scoring single and after Ali Castillo was hit by a pitch, Jake Cave tripled home a pair of runs to end the outing for Binghamton's starter.

Lara (5-4) set a season-high with 11 hits and seven runs allowed in 5.2 innings. 

Cave fell a double shy of the cycle and recorded a 3-for-4 effort at the plate In the four-game series with the B-Mets, Cave went 9-for-16 (.563) with six extra base hits and six runs scored. The bottom third of the Thunder order combined to go 5-for-10 with five runs scored and three driven in.

The Thunder continue their seven-game homestand with a three-game set against the New Britain Rock Cats on Monday night. RHP Zach Nuding (6-2, 2.81) will throw for the Thunder, LHP Pat Dean (7-6, 4.62 ERA) will go for the Rock Cats. 

The first 1,000 fans, age 21 and older, will receive Thunder Pint Glasses, presented by Budweiser. Listen live to Thunder baseball on 91.3 WTSR and TrentonThunder.com beginning at 6:45.