Tri-City 9
Cyclones 5
July 4 in Tri-City
They found no relief.
Cyclones relievers Connor O’Neil and Gregorix Estevez took quite the beating on the mound, allowing a combined six hits and six runs as Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer fell to the ValleyCats in their third loss in a row.
The Clones seemed poised to cruise to victory as they entered the bottom of the eighth up 5–3, but Tri-City’s Miguelangel Sierra led a late-game rally for the ValleyCats, hitting a double that scored Randy Vasquez before Jacob Meyers scored Luis Payano on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5–5.
Cyclones manager Edgardo “Fonzie” Alfonzo then replaced O’Neil with Estevez, who did little to stop Tri-City’s momentum.
The reliever walked the next three batters, loading the bases and scoring Sierra, before allowing two consecutive singles to Jake Adams and Kristian Trompiz that scored J.J. Matijevic, Bryan De La Cruz, and Connor MacDonald, making it 9–5.
The Clones failed to make anything of hits that got runners to first and second in the ninth, ending the game in yet another loss.
O’Neil took the loss for blowing the save, making him 0–1, and Ricardo Cespedes had two hits and a run.
The loss puts the Clones at a putrid 3–11, still holding dead last place in the McNamara Division and three games behind Hudson Valley.
The boys hope to kick their three-game skid when they face the ValleyCats again tonight in Tri-City at 7 pm.
