MANCHESTER — Skipper Sal Fasano was forced to call on his relief corps with just one out recorded in the first inning, rarely a recipe for winning baseball.

Starter Randy Boone made what amounted to a cameo Saturday night and the Fisher Cats, despite a solid showing from the bullpen, generated little offense in a 3-1 loss to the Trenton Thunder.

“This was his third start in Double-A since Tommy John surgery. He felt a little discomfort. We’re going to have the doctor take a look at him (today) so we can have a better indication. I don’t want to speculate right now,” said Fasano, whose green-clad club dropped to 16-24 in front of 6,101 fans on Irish Heritage Night at Northeast Delta Dental Stadium.

Boone surrendered a run before his outing ended with a first-pitch ball to No. 5 hitter Luke Murton.

Clean-up hitter Cody Johnson (2-for-4, two RBIs) slapped an opposite-field double inside the third-base bag. The slugger’s hit scored Abraham Almonte, who singled on the game’s first pitch and sparked a three-hit inning.

The Thunder (21-18) added to their lead after the first reliever out of Fasano’s bullpen completed an impressive appearance.

Lefty Aaron Loup — the first of four Fishers to work out of the bullpen — tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of Boone (0-2).

Loup (32 pitches) stranded runners at second and third in the home first, and retired the first five batters he faced. He set down eight of nine Thunder overall, recorded four strikeouts, and ended his outing by fanning Johnson in the third inning.

Dan Brewer’s fourth-inning single off Danny Farquhar doubled Trenton’s lead to 2-0. Johnson’s second run-scoring double, a fifth-inning bloop to left field, dug the Fishers a three-run deficit.

John Tolisano jacked his first home run of the season in the sixth. The blast, off reliever Lee Hyde, cleared the Samuel Adams Bar & Grill in left field to pull the Fishers within 3-1.

“Honestly, I wasn’t trying to do it,” Tolisano said of going yard. “I honestly was trying to take the second baseman’s head off in the opposite direction.”

Trenton manager Tony Franklin used five pitchers to win Game 2 of the series. The Thunder go for the sweep today. First pitch is 1:35 p.m.

“It’s not how we drew it up. But I am very pleased with the way (the bullpen) pitched. They came out in a tough spot,” Fasano said. “To suck up that many innings was paramount.”