Tri-City 2
Cyclones 1
June 25 at MCU Park
A rare 5–3–6 double-play killed a Cyclones scoring chance in the ninth inning of a loss to Tri-City.
After reaching on a throwing error by the catcher, Michael Bernal took off on a 3–2 pitch to Zach Mathieu. Mathieu hit a chopper to third.
Third baseman Jose Zambrano came in and threw Mathieu out, so Bernal tried to take third. ValleyCat shortstop Adrian Alfaro wisely covered third, received the throw from first and tagged Bernal.
But Cyclones manager Tom Gamboa had no problem with Bernal’s aggressiveness despite the fact it cost his team the game.
“It’s easy after the fact to say ‘Well, gee, he should have stayed in scoring position,’ but Michael was trying to get to third with one out where Diehl could score him with an out.”
Fourth-round draft pick David Thompson played his first game as a Cyclone, entering the game in the seventh as a pinch-hitter with two on and one out. He promptly grounded into a double play, leaving his new manager to wonder what could have been.
“It would have been a nice Cinderella story if he had banged one off the wall to drive in two,” said the Brooklyn skipper. “But he’s going to be fine.”
Thompson pinch-hit for Branden Kaupe who tripled and scored in the third inning, but Gamboa had no second thoughts about the move though.
“Branden did a good job tonight, but Thompson was drafted in the fourth round for a reason,” he said. “That was the ideal time, I felt, to give him his first at-bat and give us a chance to win the game.”
Thompson claimed he didn’t suffer from the so-called “sphincter factor” that did in starter Kevin Canelon the night before.
“I was excited to get up with guys on first and second,” he said. “He threw me a good pitch to hit. I wish I could hit it a little better.”
Tyler Badamo was the tough-luck loser for Brooklyn, giving up a pair of runs over six-and-two-thirds innings.
Tri-City got on the board in the fourth. With runners on first and second, the Cyclones tried to turn a 5–4–3 double play. Corey Baptist beat the throw at first and Zambrano rounded third and scored when Mathieu’s throw to home was wide.
The ValleyCats took the lead in the sixth when Brett Pirtile led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly. Pirtile had three hits off Perdomo.
The Cyclones were held to four hits on the night, and only one after the fourth inning.
UPS AND DOWNS
For the second night in a row, Jeff Diehl ended a 2–1 game. But unlike his walk-off run-scoring triple on Wednesday, Diehl grounded out to the pitcher Jack Fischer.
Christian Montgomery had another good outing for the Cyclones, retiring all four batters he faced. He’s now had three scoreless appearances, an has earned the praise of his coach, who says the pitcher has come a long way since last season..
“I know [pitching coach] Dave a LaRoche is really proud of Montgomery,” Gamboa said. “We weren’t certain he was going to be with us. He struggled so badly at Kingsport last year.”
After a three-hour-and-33 minute battle on Wednesday, the Cyclones and ValleyCats played a brisk 2:28.
