Cyclones 6
Hudson Valley 3
July 29 at MCU Park
Tucker Tharp and Jeff Diehl homered as the Cyclones returned to the friendly confines of MCU Park with a 6–3 win over Hudson Valley after a disastrous road trip.
Tharp’s fifth-inning homer off Roel Ramirez, the first dinger of his professional career, came after more than 100 at bats as a pro.
“It took a lot longer than I thought it was going to take,” Tharp said. “I’ve been hitting the ball fine the last week and fortunately I got a ball lifted.”
Diehl hit a moonshot in the eighth off Tomas Michelson, his fourth homer of the season. Everyone wanted to see how far it would go, including Diehl who did not immediately start running — a move that upset himself.
“I admired that for a little bit,” he said. “If I could take that back, I’d take it back.”
The offensively challenged Cyclones jumped on Roel Ramirez for three runs in the first.
Tharp and Vinny Siena singled and scored on Michael Bernal’s two-run triple. Bernal scored on David Thompson’s run-scoring ground out.
Tharp’s homer in the fifth put Brooklyn up 4–0.
Kevin Canelon picked up his third win of the season, giving up one run in six innings and limiting the Renegades to four hits. The lefty struck out seven and walked one.
Luis Mateo and Carlos Valdez each pitched an inning of scoreless relief.
Diehl’s two-run blast in the eighth gave the Cyclones a 6–1 lead to seemingly put the game out of reach.
Ruben Reyes came in to pitch the ninth, but walked three of the four batters he faced.
Tom Gamboa was less than thrilled about Reyes’ outing.
“Unfortunately, Reyes put a blemish on what was a great pitching performance tonight,” said the Clones skipper. “Just because it’s 6–1, if you’re not focused when you go out there you can be embarrassed in a heartbeat.”
Gamboa said that walking three hitters with a five-run lead was “unconscionable.”
A run-scoring ground out made it 6–2. Angel Moreno’s run-scoring single cut the lead to –-3 and brought the tying run to the plate before Palsha struck out Daniel De La Calle to end the game.
Brooklyn improved to 12–2 when scoring four or more runs in a game and 15–0 when leading after seven innings.
The Cyclones and Renegades finish their three game series tonight in Hudson Valley.
