Pitching Matchups; Game of the Day 8/23/11

6:00pm
Harrisburg Senators (Daniel Rosenbaum 2-0, 1.40)
vs. Portland Sea Dogs (Matt Rusch 0-1, 8.44)

7:00pm
Lowell Spinners (Luis Diaz 3-3, 3.02)
vs. Staten Island Yankees (William Oliver 4-2, 3.79)

7:05pm
Syracuse Chiefs (Brad Peacock 3-1, 3.55)
vs. Pawtucket Red Sox (Alex Wilson 0-0, 4.50)

Trenton Thunder (Craig Heyer 10-6, 3.64)
vs. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Nestor Molina 1-0, 0.82)

Reading Phillies (Joe Esposito 5-4, 5.14)
vs. New Britain Rock Cats (Logan Darnell 1-0, 4.73)

Connecticut Tigers (Wilsen Palacios 4-3, 3.51)
vs. Aberdeen IronBirds (Ryan Berry 1-1, 5.89)

Vermont Lake Monsters (Seth Frankoff 3-3, 3.19)
vs. Hudson Valley Renegades (N/A)

Game of the Day – Thunder vs. Fisher Cats – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats (69-59) have stood atop the E.L.'s Eastern Division since June 16th and had a lead of seven games as recently as last Thursday. But suddenly the ship seems to be taking on water once again as the Cats have gone 2-7 over their last nine games and are in the midst of a four game losing streak at exactly the wrong time! Now with just fourteen games to play the Cats find themselves only 3 games up on a surging Reading (66-62) squad that has rattled off 5 straight wins. Not helping the cause is the fact that Trenton (64-63), once seemingly dead-in-the-water, has reemerged as a viable threat to the Cats playoff hopes as well. The Thunder are now only 4 ½ behind New Hampshire with seven games left to gain ground directly against them. Trenton will try to continue their march towards the top with Craig Heyer on the hill tonight in his 22nd start of the year and his fourth straight on the road. In his last five starts he is 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA. Heyer is 3-0 against the Fisher Cats this season, picking up a win in relief against the Cats back on Opening Day and two as a starter in June. The Fisher Cats will be looking to add a big “L” to Heyer’s mark against them and they are hopeful that Nestor Molina will continue his ways to ensure it. In his first two starts since being called up from Class-A Dunedin earlier this month, he has allowed just 1 earned run over 11 innings and has struck out 17 batters in the process. Prior to his call up, Molina was 10-3 with a 2.58 ERA and 115 Ks in 108 1/3 innings with Dunedin…The Fisher Cats are 4-10 versus Trenton this season and have been swept in the last two series (both three games) against them…Trenton’s 43 triples are the most in the Eastern League…Fisher Cats’ center fielder Anthony Gose is 11-for-11 on stolen base attempts in the month of August, but he is only batting .219.

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