John From Albany - Dramatic ninth for Brooklyn goes for naught as they lose in ten, Syracuse loses as well.

What might have been.  

The Brooklyn Cyclones have been exciting all year long.  Tuesday night they provided more excitement with a dramatic ninth inning only to lose in ten (box).  

Down 2-1 to the A’s Vermont Lake Monsters in the ninth, two outs, no one on base.  Then, left fielder Antoine Duplantis reached on an error.  With Ranfy Adon pinch running, Gavin Garay doubled on the first pitch tying the game. 

In the tenth, the Lake Monsters scored their free runner in scoring position on a wild pitch but the Cyclones could not get their free runner in. Overall for the Cyclones, Garay went 3 for 4, and Wilmer Reyes went 2 for 4 with an RBI.  Brooklyn starter, Frank Valentino, went 5.1 innings, with 8 K’s, 6 hits, 2 runs.

With Hudson Valley winning, and Aberdeen and Staten Island losing, Brooklyn is now a game out of first, tied for the wild card lead with Aberdeen, still a game and a half over Staten Island.

Brooklyn now heads to Aberdeen for a three-game series.  The head to head match up should help determine the wild card winner as Brooklyn and Aberdeen not only have the same record but have so far split the season series.  Head to head records break any wild card ties. 

Fresh off a double header sweep on Monday and winners of 12 out of 13, the Syracuse Mets sent one of their hottest pitchers, Drew Gagnon, to the mound Tuesday only to lose 5-3 (box).

Drew was the victim of the home run ball as he gave up two two-run homers and a solo shot in the loss.  Rymer Liriano homered for the S-Mets and Brandon Nimmo continued his rehab leading off, playing center field, and going 0 for 4 with a walk and a run scored.

With the Yankee’s Scranton/Wilkes-Barre team beating Pawtucket 4-0, Syracuse is now a game out of first. 

On another Syracuse note, check out this great column by Syracuse.com’s Lindsay Kramer on Stephen Nogosek: “How a video game superstar sparked Syracuse Mets reliever to dominance”.  Great stuff about a pitcher having a great year.