Cyclones 2
Valley Cats 1 (10 inns.)
Saturday, July 4, at Tri City
For the second-straight night, the Cyclones waited until the end of the game to make their dominance felt.
This game was a classic pitchers’ duel for the first eight, shutout innings, as Cyclone starter Brandon Moore scattered six hits over his eight-plus innings, striking out three, while Tri City starter Wander Alvino yielded just three hits in his seven innings.
But in the top of the ninth, the Clones manufactured a run on a Matt Gaski walk, a wild pitch, a Sam Honeck bunt and a Nicholas Giarraputo SAC fly.
Alas, Tri City stormed back in the ninth, and when Russell Dixon led off with a triple and Ben Orloff followed with a single, manager Pedro Lopez pulled Moore for reliever Mike Powers.
Powers shut the door, and the Cyclones came back to score the game-winner in the 10th — a run built on a Luis Rivera single, a Giarraputo bunt and a Doc Doyle RBI single.
Powers pitched a lights-out ninth for the win. On the night, the Cyclones got just four hits, but who cares? A win is a win.
The Cyclones 13-2 start is the team’s best ever. Brooklyn now has a seven-game lead over the hated Staten Island Yankees, who are 6–9.
