Today’s baseball game featured the Reading Phillies play the Trenton Thunder in the final game of their only visit to New Jersey this season. I really had no idea who to root for, so I ended up rooting for a quick, well-played game.

That didn’t work out so well.

Dellin Betances, half of the heavily-hyped “Killer Bs” tandem from last year’s Thunder team, started the game for Trenton. He lasted just three innings and gave up seven runs on 10 hits and three walks. The Phillies scored another two runs off of reliever Francisco Rondon to give them a 9-0 lead at the halfway point of the game.

Meanwhile, Reading’s starter Julio Rodriguez took a no-hitter into the fifth inning – but it was an unconventional one. He walked three and hit another four batters before Jose Pirela finally got the first Thunder hit of the game. It opened the door for a five-run rally that chased Rodriguez from the game.

At the 7th inning stretch, Reading still had a comfortable 11-6 lead.  The sun and the heat had been bothering me all day, so I decided to make it an early afternoon.

I missed the Thunder’s 9th inning comeback. With two outs, Trenton staged a five-run rally to tie the game at 11-11 and send it into extra innings.

Reading went out in front 12-11 in the top of the 10th, but Trenton tied it again in the bottom half of the inning. Finally, in the 12th, Pirela hit a walk-off home run to give the Thunder what must be their most improbable comeback victory of the year.

I made it home in time to watch the final inning and a half of the Mets’ 8-3 loss to the Dodgers. I’m hesitant to say that this was the game that buries the 2012 Mets season, but I think it would take a sweep of the Nationals and three out of four from the Diamondbacks to let me start thinking about a possible shot at the playoffs again.

Here are some photos from today’s Trenton vs. Reading game: