Hartford infielder Alan Trejo had two of four hits by the Yard Goats in Friday night’s loss to Trenton.
HARTFORD, August 2 — Wearing their green jerseys on Irish Heritage Night, the Hartford Yard Goats discovered luck was not on their side, as they were shutout by the Trenton Thunder, 2-0, Friday night in Eastern League action before 6,850 fans at Dunkin’ Donuts Park.
Reliever Danny Alvarez pitched around a ninth inning threat, leaving two men on base to nail down his 15th save, helping starter Nick Nelson beat the Yard Goats for the third time this season.
The Yankees’ Double A affiliate defeated Hartford for the fifth time in 12 outings. Pitcher Antonio Santos turned in a stellar outing for the Goats, despite the loss, Hartford’s seventh straight at home, before another capacity crowd.
Santos, who gave up 13 runs and 17 hits in his first two Double A starts, was nearly unhittable. The 22-year-old right-hander permitted only three hits over six shutout innings. He walked two and struck out seven. The Villa Gonzalez, Dominican Republic native needed only 80 pitches.
Trenton (21-23), playoff bound after winning the first-half, snapped the scoreless deadlock in the seventh against reliever Justin Lawrence. The hard-throwing right-hander hit Kellin Deglan on a 1-and-2 pitch, setting the stage for a double by lefty-hitting Brandon Wagner off the wall in dead-center.
The Thunder added a run off of southpaw Matt Whitehouse in the eighth on a bunt single by Rashad Crawford and an RBI-double by Ben Ruta, who extended his hitting streak to nine games.
Nelson improved to 6-2. The right-hander, 23, pitched six innings, allowed four hits, three walks and struck out four. Nelson has tossed 14 scoreless innings and allowed eight hits in three outings against Hartford (17-24).
It was the 14th time the Yard Goats have been shutout this season. Alan Trejo had two of Hartford’s four hits, while RBI-doubles by Wagner and Ruta and two hits and run scored by Crawford paced Trenton.
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