Hudson Valley 8
Cyclones 3
June 26 at MCU Park
Keaton got quite the beatin’!
Cyclones reliever Keaton Aldridge recorded just one out and coughed up four runs in the top of the eighth inning and the Cyclones committed five errors on the night, handing the Renegades a sweep of a three-game set.
The game was a nail-biter until the eighth when, with the Renegades up 3–1 and one out, Aldridge allowed a single and hit a batter before giving up a triple to Matt Dacey, scoring both Angel Perez and Jean Ramirez.
Bill Pujols then singled to center to score Dacey which, in a surprising move, prompted manager Edgardo Alfonzo to replace Aldridge with infielder Franklin Correa. Not surprisingly, Correa didn’t stop the bleeding.
Correa, a .261 hitter this year, hit 100 percent of the next three batters, Deion Tansel, Emilio Gustave, and Zacrey Law, scoring Pujols.
The Renegades were able to squeeze out two more runs after Tansel scored on a fielder’s choice and Gustave scored on a sacrifice fly, putting the Renegades up 7–1.
During garbage time, the Clones added two runs in the ninth, scoring on a throwing error and a double-play. Yeesh.
If the game, the skipper stated the obvious.
“It was a really tough one today. We tried everything we could to get it done,” said Alfonzo. “We only got three hits and it’s hard to win when that happens.”
The loss makes it four in a row for the Cyclones, which puts the team at 2–5 and tied for last in the division with the putrid Aberdeen Ironbirds, who play somewhere in Maryland.
The Cyclones get the day off tonight, but the battle for last place continues on Wednesday when our boys head south to take on the Ironbirds at 7:05 pm.
