Connecticut 7
Cyclones 5
June 22 at Connecticut
The Cardiac Cyclones scored three times in the ninth, but the rally fell short in a 7–5 loss on Wednesday in Connecticut.
The Tigers got to Brooklyn starter Gabriel Llanes early, as Blaise Salter hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the first. Connecticut tacked on a run in the second with three straight singles and a force out to extend the lead to 3–0.
Connecticut kept hammering Llanes in the third as Cole Bauml’s run-scoring double made it 4–0. Mario Sanjur followed with a two-run double to put Brooklyn in a 6–0 hole.
The Cyclones got on the board in the fourth when Jay Jabs doubled in Colby Woodmansee, who had reached on an error.
Brooklyn scored in the sixth without the benefit of a hit. Nick Sergakis was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a walk to Woodmansee, advanced to third on a fly ball and scored on a Jacob Zanon sacrifice fly to cut the lead to 6–2.
Alejandro Castro came on to pitch the sixth inning for Brooklyn, but found himself in quick trouble. With runners on second and third and two outs, Salter singled in a run with a ball to deep short but Woodmansee cut down the other runner on a 6-5-2 relay which kept the score 7–2.
The Cyclones entered the ninth inning with two hits, and none since Jabs’ double in the fourth. Yordy Cabrera came in to try and record the final three outs, but quickly surrendered a one-out homer to Zanon which cut the lead to 7–3.
Dan Rizzie singled and moved to second on a passed ball before Hengelbert Rojas struck out for the second out of the inning. Then, Dionis Paulino beat out an infield single to put runners on the corners.
It looked like Cabrera got the final out but Dale Burdick reached on an error by third baseman Josh Lester which scored Rizzie to make it 7–4. Then Gene Cone reached on an error by shortstop Keaton Jones as the Rizzie scored to cut the lead to 7–5. With two on and two out, Sergakis grounded out to Cabrera to end the rally and the game.
The 2–4 Cyclones take on the Tigers tonight in Connecticut at 7:05 pm.
UPS AND DOWNS
The Cyclones are now three games behind the Staten Island Yankees who have won five of their first six.
Despite making the final out, Sergakis leads the Cyclones with a .389 batting average early in the season. The second highest average belongs to Jay Jabs, and his .250 mark.
Enmanuel Zabala homered in the first at-bat of the Cyclones season but the team hasn’t hit one since.
