BROOKLYN, N.Y. - LHP Daviel Hurtado ended his campaign with five strong innings, allowing only one earned run, but the Cyclones were topped by the Keys on Saturday night, 7-3. RF Aiden Robbins collected multiple hits, finishing with two of Brooklyn’s six hits on the night. Meanwhile, Frederick’s 2B D.J. Layton finished the day with five hits, adding two runs scored and two RBI.
Hurtado gave Brooklyn five strong frames, departing with the ballgame tied at one. The southpaw gave up two unearned runs in the 2nd, and then one run in the 5th on an RBI double.
RHP Ryan Lambert worked a scoreless frame, continuing his minor-league rehab assignment. The righty spun a scoreless 6th inning, working around a leadoff walk with a pair of strikeouts.
Frederick broke the scoreless tie in the 2nd against Hurtado. With the bases loaded and two outs, Layton smacked the second of his five hits - a two-run single to center to give Frederick a 2-0 lead. Both runs went down as unearned after an error earlier in the frame.
The Brooklyn bats surged out in front with a three-run 4th inning. With two outs, CF Yonatan Henríquez smoked his 11th homer of the year on a line drive to right field.
After DH Daiverson Gutiérrez coaxed a walk, 2B Colin Houck clobbered a two-run shot to give Brooklyn the lead.
However, the Keys pulled even with a run in the 5th. With Hurtado still on, consecutive one-out doubles from Layton and CF Enddy Azocar tied the game at 3-3.
Frederick took the lead for good in the 7th. With RHP Ryan Dollar on in relief, the Keys bats went to work. With the bases loaded and nobody out, 1B Randal Diaz gave the Keys the lead on an RBI groundout to 3rd. Then, LF-3B Jaiden Lo Re smoked a two-run double on a line drive to center to give the Keys a 6-3 lead.
Frederick tacked on one more in the 8th on an RBI single from LF Ty Head, who had just entered the game as a pinch-hitter. With the win, the Keys clinched the second half crown in the North Division, finishing the year as both the first and second half champs ahead of the playoffs.
The Cyclones and Keys close up shop on the regular season tomorrow afternoon at Maimonides Park. First is slated for 2:00 p.m. LHP Nicolas Carreño (3-3, 4.47 ERA) projects to take the ball for Brooklyn against Fredrick’s RHP Jake Dykhoff (2-0, 2.53 ERA).