Cyclones 7
Vermont 4
August 11 at MCU Park
The Cyclones drew a franchise-record 12 walks in a 7–4 win over Vermont at MCU Park on Thursday in a three hour, 41 minute marathon.
“Very strange game,” Tom Gamboa said. “We had 12 walks and three hit batters.”
First-round pick Justin Dunn tossed three shutout innings, showing again he had the stuff to move through the system.
“I would be very shocked if Justin Dunn ever saw Columbia unless he was just driving through there,” Gamboa said.
Brooklyn drew first blood in the third.
Rehabbing Jose Reyes led off – much like his last stint in Brooklyn – with a walk and stole second. Gene Cone reached on a bunt single to third, putting runners at the corners. Brandon Brosher was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out.
Nick Sergakis walked to force in a run, and a Blake Tiberi sacrifice fly to left scored Cone.
Vermont starter Dakota Chalmers gave up two runs in four-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one hit, but walking seven.
Vermont got on the board against Clones reliever Raul Jacobson in the fourth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases, and Brett Sunde’s ground out to second cut the lead in half.
The Lake Monsters tied the game in the seventh. Steven Pallares singled, stole second, advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on an Eli White groundout. A single and walk ended the night for Jacobson.
Gabriel Feliz entered and plunked Tyler Ramirez to load the bases, but the southpaw recovered and got JaVon Shelby to tap back to the mound. Feliz recorded one out and picked up his first win of the year.
Derek Beasley pitched one-and-one-third innings of shutout ball, but the Cyclones got to Ty Damron in the seventh. Sergakis and Blake Tiberi drew one-out walks and – with two outs – Jay Jabs walked to load the bases.
Damron then walked his fourth batter of the inning as Arnaldo Berrios took a 3–2 pitch that just missed to score the go-ahead run. Hengelbert Rojas then singled in two runs to give Brooklyn a seemingly comfortable 5–2 lead.
Alejandro Castro came in to pitch the eighth, but a walk and two singles later and Joseph Zanghi was called on to get out of the jam.
“Castro has been pitching very good for us of late,” Gamboa said. “That’s the first time he’s been in that late in the game. I don’t know whether he got a little bit nervous but the game definitely sped up on him.”
A pair of sacrifice flies cut the lead to 5–4 and then Zanghi struck out Eric Marinez.
Branden Kelliher retired the first two batters he faced, but then Sergakis was hit by a pitch and scored on Blake Tiberi’s double. Tiberi then scored on Darryl Knight’s single.
Zanghi closed out the win in the ninth, good for his fourth save of the year.
The 28–25 Cyclones play the West Virginia Black Bears on Friday at 7 pm. The Cyclones will host Military Appreciation Night and the first 2,000 fans will receive Cyclones Aviator sunglasses.
UPS AND DOWNS
Pete Alonso will miss the rest of the season because of a broken finger suffered while diving into second base on Tuesday.
After Arnaldo Berrios was hit by a pitch, he angrily flipped his bat towards the dugout which unfortunately bounced off the turf and into the dugout. No Cyclones were hurt.
“He’s just coming off a knee injury and now he gets hit with a pitch in the ankle and you don’t have any meat to protect your ankle,” Gamboa said. “Any of us that have played, we’ve had that happen, it stings like hell. He just got emotional but he didn’t realize on turf that bat is a weapon. It came right over the railing right into the dugout. I mean, he could’ve hurt a teammate, so we’ll talk about that.”
