Minor Leagues: Thunder stymie R-Phils for sweep

READING - Jose Pirela homered in the first inning, Craig Heyer threw six scoreless innings, and the Trenton Thunder (27-18) took a 3-1 victory Thursday afternoon to sweep the Reading Phillies (24-21) in a three-game Eastern League series.

In the top of the fifth, Bradley Suttle lined a triple into the gap in right-center field to score Pirela from first base and give the Thunder a 2-0 lead.

Trenton added a run on a bases-loaded walk in the sixth.

Heyer limited the R-Phils to two hits in six scoreless innings, using three inning-ending double plays to escape the first three frames unscathed.

In the ninth, Trenton's Fernando Hernandez gave up a one-out, bases-loaded single to Stephen Susdorf to cut the Thunder's lead to 3-1, but Josh Schmidt came in to strike out two for his fourth save of the season.

Lehigh Valley 3, Rochester 2

 ALLENTOWN - Pete Orr and Brandon Moss homered in the first, and the IronPigs held on to beat the Red Wings in an International League game.

Brian Bass went six innings, giving up seven hits and two runs for the win. Mike Zagurski pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.

Trenton 100 011 000 – 3 8 1

Reading 000 000 001 – 1 5 2

WP: Heyer (4-2, 2.74). LP: Rosenberg (0-1, 1.88) . SV: Schmidt (4) . HR:TRN: Pirela (1) . A: 8,023 .

Rochester 000 101 000 – 2 9 0

Lehigh Valley 300 000 00x – 3 7 2

WP: Bass (3-2). LP: Baldwin (3-4). SV: Zagurski (8). HR: LHV - Moss (6), Orr (1). A: 8,201.

Greensboro 000 000 312 – 6 8 3

Lakewood 102 030 10x – 7 8 3

WP: Manzanillo (3-2). LP: Manzueta (0-4). SV: Knigge (3). HR: GBO: Ozuna (8); Canha 2 (4). LWD: Murphy, Ji (11). A: 6,773..

Camden 100 002 000 – 3 12 2

Long Island 030 001 03X – 7 13 0

WP: Ehren Wassermann . LP:Jake Dittler . A: 5,121.

Clearwater 000 000 113 – 5 13 1

Ft. Myers 000 000 000 – 0 3 0

WP: Pettibone (5-3, 1.75) . LP:Tone (1-1, 4.94) . SV: Loop (3) . HR: CLR: Myers (1), Hanzawa (1) . A:1,615 .