Cyclones 6
Hudson Valley 1
August 4 at Hudson Valley
The Cyclones took advantage of a handful of Hudson Valley mistakes and used another solid performance on the mound to notch a 6–1 win at Hudson Valley on Thursday night.
Brooklyn gave starter Merandy Gonzalez a lead to work with in the first. Michael Paez doubled off Renegades starter Brock Burke with one out. Desmond Lindsay hit a grounder to short, and throwing errors by shortstop Bill Pujols and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe allowed Paez to score.
The score remained 1–0 until the top of the fifth. Jacob Zanon doubled with one out, stole third and scored on a Paez single. Lindsay drew a walk, and a Pete Alonso groundout moved the runners to second and third. Then Burke uncorked a pitch so wild that it scored both Paez and Lindsay to give the Cyclones a 4–0 lead. The ball bounced high in the air, the catcher couldn’t locate it, and Lindsay never stopped running.
Hudson Valley got on the board in the sixth. With one out, the Renegades loaded the bases on two singles and a walk. Gonzalez needed a mound visit, but bounced back and struck out Miles Mastrobuoni for the second out. Gonzalez then struck out Danny De La Calle, but the ball got away as De La Calle reached and Garrett Whitley scored.
Tom Gamboa called on Taylor Henry to get out of the inning, and the southpaw responded by striking out Chris Betts.
The Cyclones tacked on a pair of runs in the seventh as Alonso’s double scored Lindsay. A two-out throwing error by Jim Haley scored Alonso to make it 6–1.
Austin McGeorge pitched two innings of scoreless relief and Alejandro Castro threw a scoreless ninth for the Clones.
Merandy Gonzalez tossed five-and-two-thirds innings of scorelessball, giving up one run on five hits, walking three and striking out five. He improved to 4–2 on the mound with the latest victory.
Colby Woodmansee went three-for-five, while Alonso and Paez added two hits apiece.
The 24–22 Cyclones go for the sweep on Friday at 7:05 pm at Hudson Valley.
UPS AND DOWNS
Zanon Watch: Jacob Zanon stole his 20th base of the season, putting him 10 behind the record Angel Pagan set in 2001.
The Cyclones have bumped the Renegades from first place. Brooklyn is now 2.5 games behind the hated Staten Island Yankees.
