NEW BRITAIN -- The Trenton Thunder pulled a Yankee doodle and for the largest crowd in New Britain baseball history, it was simply dandy.

 

Danny Matienzo smashed a run-scoring double in the sixth inning and continued home on a two-base throwing error Friday night as the Rock Cats rode the pitching of Francisco Liriano and Jason Miller to a 2-1 victory over the Yankees Double-A club before a record crowd of 7,428 at New Britain Stadium.
 
The Rock Cats (24-35) have won four of their last five. The Thunder (31-29) had won five of six coming into the game.

 

The decisive inning began when Ben Pattee reached on an error by first baseman Shelley Duncan and was perched at first with one out. Matienzo ripped a shot into the right-field corner and Pattee came all the way around to score, eluding the tag of catcher Jason Brown with a slide to the outside of the plate.

 

While Brown was pleading his case to home plate umpire Jake Uhlenhopp, Matienzo ventured off the second-base bag. Center fielder Melky Cabrera tried to sneak in behind him, but Brown’s throw skipped into the space Cabrera vacated. Matienzo could have walked home.

 

"I was looking at the play at home to see if Ben was safe or out," Matienzo said. "Then I noticed most of the players were hovering around home plate. I just hung out, thinking if I should go to third or not. All of a sudden, I saw the pitcher start pointing to second base. I looked over and saw the center fielder coming to second base. The catcher threw it, I dove back. He threw it into center field and nobody was there."

 

Rock Cats manager Stan Cliburn followed Pattee down the third-base line to get a good look at the play.

 

"I knew it was going to be a close play," Cliburn said. "I was yelling and yelling, maybe blowing a breeze his way to get him on in there. It was just a heck of a slide by Pattee and a good job by (on-deck batter Luis) Jimenez for telling him how to slide.

 

"The catcher thought he had tagged him out but he didn’t block the plate like he should have. When you have a bang-bang play there, naturally you’re going to have a response. Nobody ever called time out."

 

Miller retired the final nine Thunder hitters in order to notch his third save of the season.

 

"It was the best I’d ever seen him throw," Cliburn said. "Right-handed hitters don’t see him (well) for some reason. He’s not overpowering. He throws the ball 85 to 88 miles an hour, but he really hides that ball in his delivery."

 

Liriano was brilliant through five but faded in the sixth, allowing the Thunder to take a 1-0 lead.

 

Kevin Thompson led off with a double but shortstop Tommy Watkins sneaked in behind him for the pickoff.But with two out, Liriano walked Cabrera and balked him to second. Duncan looped a single to left, scoring Cabrera with the game’s first run.

 

Liriano (3-5) fanned nine to bring his season strikeout total to 92 - second in the EL. He scattered five hits and three walks. Pitching coach Stu Cliburn noted that Liriano was out of gas after his struggle in the sixth.

 

"Stu saw a little grimace on his face in the sixth," Stan Cliburn said. "He went away from his slider a little bit and when you do that, it may be muscle fatigue. He had 97 pitches and his limit’s 110. We got him the decision, we got him the lead, it was time to get him out of there."

 

Liriano likely will skip his next start. The Twins like to give each starter who hasn’t missed any starts by midseason a break.

 

"He’s been giving us innings and it’s the time of the year we start protecting these guys," Stan Cliburn said. "It may be good timing right now and it’s good to get him a win."

 

Trenton starter Jon Skaggs (2-5) continued his mastery against New Britain, allowing just the two unearned runs on four hits. He hasn’t allowed the Rock Cats to score an earned run in 12 innings this season.

 

CATS TALES: The sellout was the fifth this year and second of the homestand. It eclipsed the previous high of 7,322 on Opening Day April 14. . ..Utility infielder Jake Mauer, plagued by a pesky ulnar nerve in his right arm, was placed on the disabled list for the second time this season. ..Aaron Small, who has pitched in 146 big league games, will start for the Thunder today upon his arrival from the Yankees’ extended spring training program in Tampa. Small pitched in the majors for seven years, his most significant time being spent with Oakland when he went 9-5 with 4.28 ERA. He will be opposed by Colby Miller (2-4, 2.50) in the 6:35 p.m. contest. The Rock Cats are expecting another sellout.