Clones Lose Heart-Breaker

The Cyclones lost a heart-breaker on Saturday evening, falling 3-2 to the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. Brooklyn led 2-1 in the eighth but David Wynn surrendered a two-out, two-run home run in the bottom of the frame to give the Scrappers the come from behind win. The Brooklyn bats continued to struggle, as they did not collect a hit after the fourth inning.

After being shutout the night prior, the Cyclones wasted no time getting on the board on Saturday evening. Brandon Nimmo led off the game with a single and after a pair of outs, Kevin Plawecki continued his hot hitting with a line drive double to right field that scored Nimmo and gave the Cyclones an early 1-0 advantage.

The lead was short lived though, as Mahoning Valley drew even in the bottom of the second. Brooklyn starter Hansel Robles ran into trouble after a lead off double from Richard Stock and a Logan Vick single put runners on the corners with nobody out. After a strikeout, Andrew Campbell singled to score the tying run, but Robles was able to limit the damage by retiring the next to batters he faced to keep the game knotted at 1-1.

The back-and-forth scoring continued in the third inning when once again the Cyclones were able to push a run across with two outs. This time it was Eudy Pina who started the threat with a leadoff single, and moved into scoring position on a ground out by Phillip Evans, the second out of the inning. Jayce Boyd came through with a line drive single to centerfield, scoring Pina to put Brooklyn in front 2-1.

Robles left the game after 5.0 innings, allowing just the single run on five hits while striking out seven. John Mincone was first out of the bullpen for Brooklyn and quickly found himself in a jam. Joseph Wendle and Joe Sever started the frame with back-to-back singles, but the southpaw was able to work his way out of trouble with a groundball out and a double play to keep Brooklyn on top 2-1. Mincone remained in the game and pitched a spotless seventh to extend his scoreless streak to 17.1 innings, dating to June 22nd.

But in the eighth inning, the Scrappers would break through and take control of the game for good. David Wynn struggled in his lone inning of relief, allowing a walk and three hits, including a two-run blast from Joe Sever that gave Mahoning Valley their first lead of the game, 3-2, heading into the top of the ninth.

In their last chance ninth inning, the Cyclones were retired in order as Boyd, Plawecki and Stefan Sabol weren’t able to mount a threat against Cody Penny, who recorded his first save of the year.

The Cyclones will look to rebound on Sunday evening when they take on the Scrappers in the second game of the three-game set at 5:05 pm. RHP Julian Hilario (0-3) will take the mound for Brooklyn in hopes of snapping the two-game losing skid for the Cyclones