Pitchers Duel Turns Blowout as Brooklyn Takes Series Finale 12-1

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Dylan Howard retired the first eight Brooklyn batters Sunday afternoon. He struck out seven across 5.1 innings and allowed just one earned run. He still took the loss. That is the story of the series finale in a nutshell.

A string of costly errors turned what began as a genuine pitchers duel into a 12-1 blowout, as the Brooklyn Cyclones took the series four games to two and closed out their time at HomeTrust Park with 43 runs scored over the final three games, a remarkable output from a team that entered the series with the worst offense in baseball.

Howard was sharp from the jump, navigating through Brooklyn's lineup with precision through the first eight batters without allowing a baserunner. Yonatan Henriquez finally broke through with a solo home run in the fourth to make it 1-0. A Brandon Nigh error in the fifth allowed another run. A Chase Meggers RBI single in the sixth made it 3-0. Through all of it, Howard kept competing, keeping the Tourists within striking distance and giving the offense every opportunity to answer.

Asheville's only run came in the sixth. Kenni Gomez stole third and Nick Monistere stole second simultaneously, drawing a throwing error from catcher Chase Meggers that sailed into left field allowing Gomez to score. 3-1. It was a heads-up play on a day when the Tourists needed every break they could get.

Then the eighth inning fell apart. A Yosweld Vasquez missed passed ball allowed a run to score. Brandon Nigh committed his second error of the day to score two more. 6-1. Howard was long gone by that point, his solid start wasted by a bullpen that couldn't hold the line. Francisco Frias was roughed up for six earned runs in just one third of an inning as Brooklyn poured it on in the ninth.

That ninth inning was the final blow. A Colin Houck single scored two. Then Eddinson Paulino stepped in with the bases loaded and launched a grand slam to right field to set the final at 12-1.

But with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, down to the final strike of the game, DJ Newman stepped back in. He saw eight pitches. The crowd held its breath with each one, knowing what was at stake. On the eighth pitch, Newman blooped a single to right-center to extend his hitting streak to 18 consecutive games, still the longest active streak in all of baseball. The dugout exhaled. So did HomeTrust Park. A silver lining on a rough day.

Kyle Walker went 2-for-3 with a walk for the only other multi-hit performance of the afternoon.

The series loss stings, but the Cyclones coming in as baseball's worst offense and putting up 43 runs in three days tells you everything about how this week went. The Tourists turn the page quickly. Asheville hits the road for the final road trip of the season, a six-game series against the Frederick Keys. Game one is on Tuesday.