Thunder take series from Sea Dogs
TRENTON » Of his 56 career minor league home runs, this was the first time Bruce Caldwell can remember one like this.
Caldwell hit what appeared to be a lazy fly ball down the left-field line that just kept going and going and going.
He was so surprised the ball traveled over the fence that he stopped momentarily at second base until manager Jay Bell signaled to him that it was gone.
Caldwell’s sixth-inning solo shot served as insurance run for the Thunder in a 5-1 victory over Portland on Sunday afternoon at Arm & Hammer Park.
“It had a left-field tail on it and I’m just like, let’s see what happens,” Caldwell said. “It kind of stayed on track and I’m like I guess I got to run now. I hit first and then I’m looking around and didn’t see any initial reaction until I saw Jay.”
Caldwell, 26, came over from the Cardinals organization in the offseason and should provide an experienced bat with some pop. He’s hit at least 10 home runs in each of the last four years and had a careerbest 14 for Springfield in the Texas League last season.
“I believe if you put a good swing on something ... I just happened to hit a couple last year,” Caldwell said. “I’m not trying to do that, it just happens.”
The Thunder (9-7) won for the sixth time in the last nine games. They jumped on Sea Dogs starter Kyle Hart for four runs in the first inning.
Ben Ruta extended his hitting streak to nine games with an RBI single in the first.
“The team is getting hot and the weather is getting warmer,” said pitcher Stephen Tarpley, who picked up the win with 2.2 innings of relief. “Everybody is not bundled up as much, but everybody has been playing their butts off out there.”
A 25-year-old lefty, Tarpley has bounced back from a rough opening outing to allow just two runs over his last seven innings.
He held Portland (6-9) to one run on three hits and fanned four.
“My first outing in Double-A it was a lot colder than what I was used to, so I was kind of getting my feet wet,” said Tarpley, who is from Los Angeles. “I wasn’t hitting the strike zone like I wanted to. You have to bounce back and really minimize those walks because those are going to be detrimental to the team.”
Starter Alexander Vargas worked 4.1 scoreless innings in his Double-A debut. The 20-year-old righty allowed two hits, walked two and struck out four.
Manager Jay Bell said he expects this to be a spot start for Vargas, who went 6-3 with a 2.74 ERA in 13 starts between Staten Island and Charleston last season.
Still, he was impressed with what he saw.
“That sinker plays and it’s a really nice pitch,” Bell said. “His change-up was really good today and he threw a couple nice slider. When you put it all together like that, you’re going to end up doing well. He was on a limited pitch count, too, so to get into the fifth was great.”