State College 2
Cyclones 0
Aug. 13 at MCU Park
The Cyclones were shut out on six hits and failed to even get a runner to third base in a 2–0 loss to State College that manager Tom Gamboa said was filled with mental errors and lousy performances at the plate .
“This is not a case of us having poor situational hitting,” Gamboa said. “We just didn’t hit, period.”
Brooklyn only got three runners to second base, continuing to whiff
State College took a second-inning lead as Jose Godoy’s two-out triple scored Orlando Olivera from first. They game stayed 1–0 until the seventh, when Jesse Jenner’s sacrifice fly scored Ronnierd Garcia. Brooklyn’s base-running blunders also helped the Spikes stay ahead.
Gamboa said Kevin Canelon might have pitched his best game in defeat, holding the Spikes to two runs in seven innings while striking out 11 and walking none.
“Canelon pitched phenomenal for us,” Gamboa said. “In fact, that might be the best stuff I’ve seen from Canelon this year.”
But Gamboa reserved praise strictly for his starting pitcher, as the manager knocked several players for poor decision-making both on and off the field.
In the fourth, Vinny Siena was nailed at third trying to advance from first on a Jeff Diehl single which went past the third baseman and down the left field line. Left fielder Thomas Spitz cut the ball off and threw out Siena. Gamboa said the mistake was Siena’s,
“That was just a poor base running play,” Gamboa said. “Diehl’s ball was right in front of him. He was only at second base when the guy got the ball.”
In the fifth, Branden Kaupe came to the plate with one out and runners on first and second. Catcher Jose Godoy picked Pedro Perez off second. Perez, who reached on a force out, was inexplicably too far off the bag, according to Gamboa.
“I have no idea what was in his mind when that happened,” Gamboa said. “He was just clueless on the bases.”
Perez is also hitless in his last 19 at-bats, which Gamboa said was becoming a chronic issue for the first baseman.
“It’s been a struggle for him to hit his entire career. It’s not just now. He has never hit. I’ve never seen him not in a slump,” he said
The Cyclones only got one runner on base in the final four innings. Enmanuel Zabala was hit by a pitch in the seventh but was erased on a double play off the bat of slow-footed catcher Jose Garcia, who Gamboa said needs to hit the gym.
“He’s in horrible shape,” Gamboa said. “If he can run at all that wouldn’t have been a double play. We’re always on him about his weight and his lack of conditioning but he has been working harder and he’s definitely swinging the bat better.”
The Cyclones were coming off two high-scoring losses, 10–7 and 7–6. The manager noted that all losses are frustrating but at least it looked like the offense was clicking.
“I think the disappointment tonight is to think that we thought we were coming out of this funk with the bats and now we’re right back in it again,” Gamboa said.
The Cyclones fell to third place in the McNamara Division as the Aberdeen IronBirds are now in second. Brooklyn is still only a-game-and-a-half behind the hated Staten Island Yankees for first place.
The 25–27 Cyclones will try to avoid a sweep as they take on the Spikes at 7 pm tonight.
