Brooklyn Cyclones Lose Battle of Situational Hitting; Renegades Seize Series Opener in Tenth Inning

From the desk: THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN vs. HUDSON VALLEY; 0-1

I - HVR 3; BRK 2*

*10 innings

A Tale of Two At-Bats: 

Sacrifice Fly  >  Double Play 

Making his 16th start, Jaison Vilera is tasked with Tuesday's series opener at Hudson Valley, opposed by Anderson Munoz from the rival Renegades.

Right fielder Jose Martinez draws a base on balls leading off the second, then advances to second base on a wild pitch.  Designated hitter Jeremy Vasquez grounds to first advancing Martinez to third.  Anderson Munoz then unleashes his second wild pitch allowing Martinez to score.  But with two outs in the bottom half of the frame, Renegade designated hitter Mickey Gasper homers, tying the game at one.

The score remains unchanged through the fourth.  In the fifth, Hudson Valley second baseman Roberto Chirinos' run-scoring single gives the Renegades their first lead.  But Jose Martinez drives home the tying run in the Cyclone eighth.

Both starting pitchers exit to no-decisions.  Jaison Vilera faces 22 batters, allowing two earned runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts.  In facing 16 batters, Anderson Munoz allows a run but no hits and three walks with nine strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched.

Brooklyn's bullpen trio of Willy Taveras, Michel Otanez, and Colby Morris yields just one hit with four strikeouts through four scoreless innings.  After a quiet ninth, into extra innings, they go at Hudson Valley.

At the top of the tenth, Antoine Duplantis successfully bunts the Phantom Menace over to third.  With one out, Jaylen Palmer draws a walk putting runners on the corners.  Shortstop Ronny Mauricio then steps in and promptly grounds into an inning-ending 4-6-2 double play.

You know what comes next ... BOXSCORE

Colby Morris returns to the bump for the bottom half of the tenth.  The Phantom Menace advances to third on a ground ball, short to first, then scores on a sacrifice fly to center field.  Without yielding so much as a hit or walk, Morris is tagged with the loss despite being in the act of securing two outs.  The only difference being Hudson Valley's outs proved more productive than those of the Cyclones.