Courtesy Vermont Lake Monsters
NORWICH, CT —The top of the Vermont order went a combined 7-for-12 with five runs and four RBI, while starter Adam Reuss tossed six strong innings to lead the Lake Monsters to a 6-4 New York-Penn League victory Tuesday night at Dodd Stadium.
Leadoff hitter Payton Squier was 3-for-4 with a walk, three runs scored and an RBI, while Marcos Brito 2-for-5 with two runs and Jonah Bride 2-for-3 with three RBI as the top three hitters for the Lake Monsters went a combined 7-for-12 with five runs and four RBI (while the 4-9 hitters were a combined 1-for-24 with one run and one RBI).
Squier, Brito and Bride opened the game with three straight singles off Connecticut starter Chance Kirby (2-2) before an RBI groundout from J.J. Schwarz in the first at bat with the Lake Monsters for Oakland’s eighth-round pick out of the University of Florida.
A two-out fielding error by Tigers second baseman Isrrael De LaCruz led to three unearned runs for Vermont in the second inning. Max Schuemann stole second after the error and scored on a Payton Squier line drive RBI single to centerfield. Then after a Marcos Brito single, Jonah Bride grounded a two-run single into leftfield for a 4-0 Lake Monsters lead.
The Tigers got two runs back in the third as De La Cruz led off with a double and scored on a one-out Wenceel Perez RBI single. Wildness from Reuss on a throwing error on a pickoff attempt and a wild pitch advanced Perez to third, where he scored on a Cam Warner sacrifice fly for the second run of the inning.
The Warner sac fly was the first of nine straight retired by Reuss before a one-out walk in the sixth that he promptly erased with a 5-4-3 inning-ending double play. Reuss (3-1) allowed just the two runs (one earned) on three hits with one walk and five strikeouts over six innings.
Vermont got two more unearned runs in the seventh for a 6-2 advantage. Squier opened the inning with his third hit of the night and later scored his third run of the game on an error by first baseman Jordan Verdon on a grounder by Brito, who then scored on a Bride sacrifice fly.
The Tigers got two unearned runs of their own in the eighth off reliever Oscar Tovar on a two-out, two-run throwing erorr by Bride at third base. After coming in to issue a walk putting runners on first and second with two outs in the eighth, Slater Lee retired the final four batters he faced to record his third save of the year.
The win snapped a five-game road losing streak for Vermont (21-23), which wraps up the three-game series at Connecticut 7:05 pm on Wednesday. The Lake Monsters then return to historic Centennial Field on Thursday to open a three-game homestand against the Hudson Valley Renegades.