Brooklyn Rallies For 5-4 Win Monday

BROOKLYN, NY --- Brandon Brosher hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game and Jeff Diehl had a bases loaded, one-out sacrifice fly in the ninth to give the Brooklyn Cyclones a 5-4 victory over the Vermont Lake Monsters in New York-Penn League action Monday afternoon at MCU Park.

With the Lake Monsters leading 4-1 after a Seth Brown RBI double in the top of the eighth and Dustin Driver allowing just one hit in the sixth and seventh innings, the Cyclones got the first two batters aboard in the bottom of the eighth inning on a fielding error and walk. Brosher then tied the game 4-4 with the three-run homer, his third of the season and the league-leading 16th home run allowed by Vermont pitchers this season.

Pinch hitter Tucker Tharp led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to right, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and to third on a Vinny Siena single. After an intentional walk to Michael Bernal loaded the bases, Diehl was able to loft a 1-2 pitch deep enough to rightfield for the game-ending sacrifice fly. It was the third time this season that the Lake Monsters have lost on a walkoff and the second time on the 2-4 roadtrip (lost in bottom of ninth on July 15th at Tri-City).

Brooklyn led 1-0 with a run in the bottom of the fifith before Vermont scored three runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth inning for a 3-1 lead. Chris Iriart (2-for-5) and Skye Bolt both had RBI singles for a 2-1 advantage, but then had the bases loaded with one out in both the sixth and seventh innings with just one run scoring on a Brown fielder's choice in the sixth as Vermont finished just 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

Mikey White was 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored, including a single in the fourth inning to extend his hitting streak to 17 straight games. The 2015 second-round pick out of the University of Alabama has the longest hitting streak in the New York-Penn League this season and is now tied with Brett Vertigan (2012) and Yairo Munoz (2014) for fourth-longest hitting streak in Lake Monsters history.

Starter Kevin Duchene allowed two hits with two walks and three strikeouts over 3.0 scoreless innings, while John Gorman (0-2) allowed the run in the ninth inning to take the loss. Siena was 3-for-5 with an RBI for Brooklyn (18-11), while Corey Taylor (1-0) tossed a scoreless ninth inning to earn the victory.

Vermont (12-17) returns home to historic Centennial Field to begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday against the Auburn Doubledays at 7:05 pm. Tuesday is the second of three McKenzies "Hot Dog Heavens" this season with 25-cent hot dogs on sale all night and fans can also receive one free grandstand ticket voucher to a future game when they donate at least one bag of gently used clothing presented by Goodwill Industries of Northern New England.