BROOKLYN, NY – The Frederick Keys picked up the crucial road victory Thursday night over the Brooklyn Cyclones (Mets), winning by a score of 3-2 at Maimonides Park.
The Keys used two sacrifice flies late in the ballgame to take the lead over Brooklyn, as the Keys are now back in front by 1.5 games over the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Pirates) for first place in the South Atlantic League North Division standings.
Brooklyn brought home the night’s first run in the bottom of the first on a hit-by-pitch, but back-to-back strikeouts from Keys starter Caden Hunter kept the bases loaded and limited the damage to just one run through an inning of play.
After both sides went off the board in the second, Hunter faced the minimum in the third inning to keep the Cyclones scoreless in the frame, taking the game to the fourth with the home team still leading by one.
Following the Keys and Cyclones finishing with zeros in the fourth inning, Elis Cuevas tied things up at one apiece on a solo homer to center field during the top of the fifth, but an RBI single in the bottom frame put Brooklyn back up by one at 2-1 approaching the sixth at Maimonides Park.
With both teams going scoreless in the sixth, Cuevas delivered his second RBI of the night on an RBI sacrifice fly into center, tying the game up at two apiece going into the eighth in Coney Island.
Joe Glassey came on in relief during the bottom of the eighth and threw a 1-2-3 inning, allowing Frederick to remain ahead by one entering the ninth in the Big Apple.
After the Keys went scoreless in the top of the ninth, Glassey struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth, securing the one-run victory for the Keys by a score of 3-2 at Maimonides Park.
The Keys face off against the Cyclones for game four of the six-game series Friday night, with first pitch for game four set for 6:40 p.m. at Maimonides Park in Coney Island.