BROOKLYN, N.Y. - Despite two hits and three runs from C Ronald Hernandez, the Cyclones fell to Wilmington, 7-5, on Thursday afternoon.
LF Corey Collins and 1B Trace Willhoite each walked twice, and 3B Yonatan Henríquez had two RBI for the Cyclones, who fell to Wilmington for the second time in as many days.
Coming off a bumpy outing last time out, RHP Noah Hall came out firing in the 1st, making quick work of the top of the Wilmington lineup, striking out the side.
Hall escaped danger in the 3rd thanks to an unusual double play. C Matt Suggs led off the inning with a walk and RF Teo Banks doubled to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Hall retired 2B Devin Fitz-Gerald on a pop-up to Henríquez in foul territory, and Suggs was called out for interfering with Henríquez to create a double play. SS Ronny Cruz flew out to end the threat.
RHP Riley Maddox nearly matched Hall’s 1st inning in the bottom half, but with two outs, the Cyclones manufactured the game’s first run. Hernandez was hit by a pitch. Collins then scorched a double to right field to put Brooklyn in front, 1-0.
The Cyclones tacked on two more runs in the 3rd, again benefitting from another costly Wilmington mistake. With the bases loaded, Henríquez hit a line drive to Cruz, but the Blue Rocks’ middle infielder misplayed the ball into a two-run error to give the Cyclones a 3-0 lead.
Wilmington put together a two-out rally of their own in the 4th to tie the game, 3-3 . After loading the bases with nobody out, Hall retired the next two batters and was only a strike away from getting out of a jam for the second consecutive inning, but a walk and a two-run bloop single by Banks pulled the Blue Rocks even.
Brooklyn regained the lead in the 5th. Hernandez, who earlier extended his hitting streak to four games, ripped a leadoff double to start the inning and later came around to score on an RBI groundout.
Just as quickly as the Cyclones regained the lead, the Blue Rocks responded in the 6th to take their first lead and never looked back. After the first two batters reached against RHP Bryce Jenkins, Banks drove in his third run of the day to tie the game at 4-4. Back-to-back wild pitches plated another run to put Wilmington in front, 5-4.
The Wilmington bats kept the pressure on in the 7th. The first two batters of the inning reached on base hits against RHP Juan Arnaud. On a stolen base by 1B Ethan Petry, Hernandez’s throw sailed into center field to bring in Cruz from third. CF Elijah Green drove in the seventh Wilmington run with a sac fly.
The Cyclones got a run back in the 8th. RF J.T. Benson doubled and scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 7-5, but CF John Bay struck out as the tying run to put an end to the rally and his 10-game hitting streak.
RHP Eiker Huizi closed out the win for the Blue Rocks. Despite a walk and hit batter to bring the winning run to the plate, the Venezuelan reliever pitched a scoreless 9th to close out Wilmington’s second win of the series.
The Cyclones and Blue Rocks will continue their series on Friday night at 6:40 P.M. RHP Frank Camarillo (1-0, 3.00 ERA) will make his second start as a Cyclone looking to even the series, while RHP Bryan Polanco (2-1, 7.47 ERA) will take the ball for Wilmington.