BROOKLYN, N.Y. - On the 25th anniversary of the Cyclones’ first game in Brooklyn, the Cyclones were unable to pull off another comeback, falling to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, 7-5. 3B Yonatan Henríquez collected three hits and stole two bases, improving to 9-for-15 at the plate in the series.
Brooklyn hit a trio of home runs for the second consecutive night. SS Mitch Voit, 2B Jamari Baylor and C Daiverson Gutierrez all homered for the Cyclones in the loss.
The game began as a pitchers duel between RHP Noah Hall and RHP Luke Gabrysh. Through four innings, the Cyclones and BlueClaws combined for just one hit, a 3rd inning single by Henríquez.
For the second consecutive outing, Hall started strong before running out of gas. After Hall held Jersey Shore without a hit through 4.2 innings, the BlueClaws jumped in front in the 5th. CF Devin Saltiban homered to even the score at 1-1. Jersey Shore followed with three hits and a walk to take a 3-1 lead.
Hall struck out a season-high seven over 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks. The start was Hall’s 39th as a Cyclone, passing RHP Jaison Vilera for most career starts as a Cyclone.
The Cyclones had an early opportunity to open the scoring, but Gabrysh escaped trouble in the 1st. Two walks and a hit-batter brought Gutierrez to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Gutierrez ripped a line drive into the glove of 3B Brandon Lewis before LF Trace Willhoite flew out to strand the bases loaded.
Henríquez manufactured the game’s first run in the 3rd. After the switch-hitter singled for Brooklyn’s first hit of the game, he advanced on a groundout, stole third with two outs and scored on an error to put the Cyclones ahead 1-0.
In the middle innings, Voit responded to Jersey Shore’s big 5th inning to lead off the bottom half. The 2025 first-round pick extended his hitting streak to five games with his eighth home run of the season to cut the Brooklyn deficit to 3-2.
In the 6th, a pair of defensive miscues extended the Jersey Shore lead. Errors by Hall and Voit allowed Saltiban to come to the plate with one out and the bases loaded. The BlueClaw’s centerfielder roped a two-run double to the gap in left-center to give Jersey Shore a 5-2 lead.
Brooklyn cut into the lead again in the 8th. Baylor launched a solo home run for his second long ball of the season to bring the Cyclones within two runs. The former BlueClaw has hit both of his home runs this season against his former team.
Jersey Shore added a pair of insurance runs. With the bases loaded and two outs, RHP Cristofer Gomez appeared to escape the jam with a ground ball to Baylor. Lewis beat Gomez to first base, and two runs came around to score to give Jersey Shore a 7-3 lead.
The Comeback ‘Clones looked to pull off their third consecutive come-from-behind win in the 9th, but their late rally fell short. Despite a two-run home run from Gutierrez, Baylor came to the plate as the tying-run and flew out to end the game.
The Cyclones and BlueClaws will continue their six-game series on Friday night at 6:40 P.M. RHP José Chirinos (1-2, 3.86 ERA) will make his fifth start for the Cyclones. RHP Ramon Marquez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will make his second career High-A start for Jersey Shore.