Baseball: Brooklyn Crushes Vermont 9-1

Posted on , updated on by George Commo

Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters

BURLINGTON — Wilmer Reyes went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer and Gavin Garay 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, while a quartet of Brooklyn pitchers combined on a three-hitter as the Cyclones completed a three-game sweep of the Vermont Lake Monsters with a 9-1 New York-Penn League victory Sunday evening at historic Centennial Field.

Reyes’ two-run homer gave Brooklyn a 2-0 lead in the third inning, then the Cyclones collected five straight singles in the fourth inning but a pickoff at second base and inning-ending double play plated just one run for a 3-0 advantage.

But the Cyclones added four more hits in the fifth innings to score five times, including Jose Peroza and Chandler Avant RBI singles before Garay capped off the inning with his three-run homer to left. Brooklyn got another run in the sixth to build lead to 9-0.

While the Cyclones offense was pounding out 15 hits over the first six innings, Brooklyn starter Colin Holderman retired all nine Lake Monsters he faced with four strikeouts. Reliever Corey Gaconi (1-0) then retired the first seven Vermont batters he saw until a Shane Selman one-out line drive single to leftfield.

Vermont got on the board in the seventh when Kyle McCann doubled with two outs and scored on a Josh Watson RBI single to center. The Lake Monsters, who were swept in a three-game series for the third time this season and first time at Centennial, have now been held to one run or less 16 times (both shutout and one run scored eight times).

Lake Monsters starter Seth Shuman (0-2) was charged with six runs (four earned) on 11 hits over 4 1/3 innings. Reliever Osvaldo Berrios gave up three runs on four hits to the first six batters he faced before then retiring the last 10 batters he faced in his 4 2/3 innings of work.

After an off day on Monday, the Lake Monsters head out on a six-game roadtrip to State College and Aberdeen, starting with the first of a three-game series at State College 7:05 pm Tuesday. Vermont returns home to Centennial Field on Monday, August 5th.