Trenton 8, Binghamton 5

Brahiam Maldonado tied a career-high with four hits and Binghamton pounded out 15 as a team, but Trenton took the finale of the three-game set 8-5 at Waterfront Park Thursday night. Erik Turgeon suffered the loss after allowing four runs over three innings of relief.



Trenton (59-58) took the early lead with a run in the first against Brandon Moore. Jose Pirela doubled to left with one out, took third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.



Binghamton (49-69) was quick to answer, however. Eric Campbell drew a walk from Steve Garrison with one out. Kai Gronauer followed and brought him home to tie the game with a double to the gap in left-center. Niuman Romero came next and dropped a single into shallow center and then took second on centerfielder Austin Krum’s throw to third. Raul Reyes plated both runners to round out the inning with a single to center, which put the B-Mets on top 3-1.



Yadil Mujica got the Thunder back within a run in the second with an RBI single to left, which chased home Melky Mesa, who walked to start the inning.



The B-Mets responded in the fourth as Jon Malo padded the lead with a two-run homer to left, his second homer in as many games.



The Thunder got both runs back in the bottom of the fourth, though. Moore allowed two singles to start the inning to Rob Lyerly and Mesa. Zoilo Almonte moved the runners into scoring position on a groundout to first. Damon Sublett then drove in Lyerly with a groundout and Mujica plated the second run with a single to left to draw Trenton within a run.

Moore departed after five innings with a chance to win. He allowed four runs on six hits and walked three. Garrison also left after five innings. He permitted five runs on 11 hits.



Turgeon entered in the sixth and worked a scoreless inning before running into trouble in the seventh. Pirela led off with a single and moved to second on Lyerly’s one-out hit. With two outs, Almonte vaulted Trenton into the lead with a two-run double to left.



Austin Krum provided the exclamation mark in the eighth with a two-run homer to right, which rounded out the scoring.



Brad Halsey earned the win for the Thunder with two, scoreless innings of relief and Ryan Pope nailed down the save in the ninth.



Maldonado’s four-hit night was his first since managing four hits with the St. Lucie Mets August 2, 2009 against Lakeland. Reyes enjoyed a perfect night at the plate by reaching in all five of his plate appearances, including two hits.