From the desk: THE CONEY ISLAND NINE
Hudson Valley defeats Brooklyn; 5-1
I - HVR 3; BKN 2
II - BKN 5; HVR 3
III - HVR 1; BKN 0
IV - HVR 8; BKN 0
V - HVR 5; BKN 4
VI - HVR 5; BKN 0
Look What The Renegades Did To The Cyclones, Again!
Toeing the rubber for Brooklyn in Sunday's series finale is Jose Butto, opposed by Hudson Valley right-hander Hayden Wesneski. A scoreless duel extends through the fifth inning with just three hits for the Renegades and one for Brooklyn off the bat of Zach Ashford in the second.
Butto exits a scoreless game after the fifth. He faces 19 batters, throwing 82 pitches with 54 (65.8%) going for strikes while allowing just three hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Reliever Allan Winans enters in the sixth and promptly surrenders the Renegades' fourth hit of the game, which is soon erased when Renegades' catcher Josh Breaux bounces into a 5-4-3 double-play.
Hayden Wesneski surrenders only his second hit of the game in the sixth, a one-out single by Cody Bohanek. He goes right back out and throws a scoreless seventh, striking out Antoine Duplantis and Ronny Mauricio before walking Brett Baty. Catcher Francisco Alvarez flies to left field, ending the frame.
Allan Winans climbs the hill again for the eighth. He walks the dreaded leadoff batter, and you know what happens next. Shortstop Josh Smith doubles down the right-field line scoring Evan Alexander from second base. Mitch Ragan relieves Allan Winans. After issuing an intentional walk, Josh Breaux greets Ragan with a line-drive double to left field, scoring Smith. Breaux then hits the next batter with a pitch to load the bases. First baseman Eric Wagaman lofts a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Ezequiel Duran from third. Mitch Ragan finally gets James Nelson on a pop-up to second. But the damage is done, three runs for Hudson Valley in the eighth.
Right-hander Nick Ernst relieves Hayden Wesneski in the eighth. Wesneski exits on the winning side of a 3-0 game, allowing just two hits and two walks with nine strikeouts through seven innings pitched. The Cyclones are set down in order in the bottom of the frame.
Brooklyn right-hander Hunter Parsons is called upon to pitch the ninth in relief of Mitch Ragan. With a double and single, Hudson Valley immediately puts runners on the corners, and a walk loads the bases before Parsons records an out. A fielding error by Ronny Mauricio leads to a pair of runs. Another intentional walk reloads the bases. The Cyclones then convert a forceout at home, get the infield fly rule invoked, and finally retire the Renegades on a flyball to center from Wagaman, but not before two more runs come home for a 5-0 lead.
Hudson Valley right-hander Zach Greene retires the Cyclones to end this Coney Island nightmare.
In this series, Hudson Valley whitewashes the Cyclones three times, and three times they limit Brooklyn to just two hits. On Thursday, June 10, in game three of the series, Hudson Valley limits the Cyclones to just a pair of hits. On Friday, June 11, the Cyclones are again limited to just two hits. Sunday is no different. Zach Ashford and Juan Uriarte are the only two Cyclones who hit safely.
The Squirrel, Jeff McNeil, started at second base and batted lead-off. He lofted a fly to left field in the first inning and grounded out to first base unassisted to end the third before being removed. This marks Jeff McNeil's second-ever visit to Coney Island. He last played for the Cyclones in 2019, going 1 for 4 with a run scored. After spending the 2013 season at Kingsport, McNeil bypassed Brooklyn in 2014, spending the season at Savannah and Port St. Lucie.
