West Virginia 5
Cyclones 3
July 21 at West Virginia
The Cyclones squandered a three-run lead in a 5–3 loss to the Black Bears.
Tom Gamboa had to go to his bullpen early when Blake Taylor left in the third inning with forearm tightness.
Brooklyn reliever Chris Flexen pitched a scoreless fifth, but allowed three runs in the sixth.
West Virginia began the inning with a single and a walk. Ty Moore’s run-scoring single made it 3–1 and put runners on the corners.
A throwing error by Jose Garcia on a stolen base attempt hurt Brooklyn as Logan Hill scored the second run and Moore advanced to third. A run-scoring single off the bat of Daniel Arribas tied the game at three.
After a scoreless seventh, the Black Bears took the lead in the eighth. Logan Hill led off with a double against Flexen.
A groundout kept Hill at second, and Gamboa called on Johnny Magliozzi to get out of the jam.
But Albert Baur’s single gave West Virginia its first lead of the night. Blue took second on the throw home and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Bait would score on a single from Maximo Rivera.
Brooklyn threatened in the ninth but with two on and two outs Zack Mathieu, pinch-hitting for Branden Kaupe, struck out swinging to end the game.
The Cyclones had jumped out to an early lead on Tucker Tharp’s run-scoring double in the third. David Thompson hit his first homer as a Cyclone in the fifth to make it 2–0. Michael Bernal’s sixth inning double put Brooklyn up 3–0.
Jose Garcia had a team-high three hits. Thompson and Bernal had two apiece. Vinny Siena went hitless in four at-bats but still has a .339 batting average.
The 18–12 Cyclones are back in action on Tuesday at 7:05 pm in West Virginia.
