Cyclones 8
Connecticut 1
Aug. 2 at MCU Park
Marcos Molina struck out a season-high nine batters in eight innings of work and Michael Conforto hit his first professional home run as the Force was with the Cyclones in a win over the Tigers on “Star Wars” night.
The Tigers only run came in the first as Molina gave up two singles to start off the game, a sacrifice bunt and a run on a wild pitch.
The Cyclones reacted quickly and often as new leadoff jotter John Mora — whom the front office acquired to add more speed and agility to the top of the order during the Clones playoff push — collected his first hit as a Cyclone to start off the bottom of the inning. A series of walks allowed the Cyclones to cross the plate for the first time, a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch made it a 3–1 game.
Amed Rosario tripled to lead off the third and a sacrifice fly by Conforto scored Rosario.
In the sixth, a triple by Dimas Ponce scored Adrien Abreu, who reached on a single. Ponce scored soon after that on a sacrifice fly by Mora.
Conforto’s dinger came in the fifth, giving the Clones a five-run lead, and the slugger said he couldn’t wait to hit one out of the park.
“I’ve been waiting for that one for a while,” he said. “It’s just the best feeling in world.”
The Cyclones added tacked on one more run in the sixth, and Cameron Griffin mopped up in the ninth.
The Cyclones and Tigers face off again today, this time at 5 pm, weather permitting.
We are not meteorologists, but we do have windows.
Ups and downs
Playoff update: The Cyclones are tied for the Wild Card spot with Connecticut, both with 26–23 records. The hated Staten Island Yankees are two games behind, with a 24–25 record.
May the force be with you: On the team’s second annual “Star Wars” night, the Cyclones wore fancy “Sithclones” jerseys, complete with Brooklyn spelled in Aurebesh, the galactic alphabet, across the chest, and an image of Darth Maul on the front.
Moore of everything: Tyler Moore, a catcher by trade, has also seen time at left field, second base and first base this season. He also played third base in college.
Coming up Roses: Amed Rosario, who hit the walk off single to take the Cyclones to victory Friday night, has nine multi-hit games in his last fifteen games. The teenager raised his batting average from .260 to .294 during that stretch.
