Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters
BROOKLYN, NY — The Brooklyn Cyclones scored the tying from second base and winning run from first base in the bottom of the 10th inning on a bunt single and throwing error for a 2-1 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters Thursday night at MCU Field.
After nine scoreless innings Vermont took a 1-0 lead in the top of the 10th on a Nick Osborne leadoff double scoring placed runner Jeremy Eierman from second base. Jose Rivas followed with a single putting runners on first-and-third with no outs, but the Lake Monsters had to settle for just the one run after reliever Andrew Mitchell (1-0) struckout Devin Foyle, got Joseph Pena to pop to short and Marcos Brito to groundout.
With Anthony Dirocie placed at second to start the bottom 10th, Nick Meyer reached safely on a Jonah Bride fielding error at third base. Chandler Avant followed with a bunt single to third off Charlie Cerny (1-1) and both runners scored when Bride’s throw to first went down the rightfield line to give Brooklyn the walkoff victory.
The bunt single was just the third hit of the game for the Cyclones. Vermont starter Reid Birlingmair allowed just a leadoff single in bottom of the first over four scoreless innings, while reliever Abdiel Mendoza came on in relief to start bottom of fifth and allowed just a leadoff single in the sixth over three shutout innings. Jaimito Lebron one walk and three strikeouts over scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
The Lake Monsters got back-to-back singles leading off the game from Marcos Brito and Alfonso Rivas, but Brito was picked off/caught stealing with Rivas at bat for the first out and Rivas was picked off first to end the inning. Vermont also got a two-out single in the second inning, but 14 of next 15 batters retired (only base runner on an Alfonso Rivas two-out walk in third) before a one-out Jeremy Eierman single in the seventh,
Cyclones starter Josh Walker allowed three hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five shutout innings, while reliever Tyler McGill one hit with one walk and eight strikeouts over four scoreless innings as Brooklyn (32-25) won its sixth straight game.
Vermont (27-30) has now lost five straight games, its third five-game losing streak of the season (June 21-25 and July 20-25). The Lake Monsters are also now 10-11 in one-run games and 2-3 in extra-inning games (three straight defeats).
Vermont returns to historic Centennial Field pm on Friday to open a six-game homestand against Staten Island and Aberdeen through Wednesday. The first 500 fans to Friday’s 7:05 pm contest vs. the Yankees with receive a Lake Monsters bucket hat.