Brooklyn Wins a Wild One in Wilmington, 7-6 in 12 Innings

BOX SCORE

Win – Daison Acosta (2-6)

Loss – Jack Sinclair (1-1)

Save – None

Home Runs – BRK: William Lugo (1) / WIL: None

Time of Game – 3:24

*Wilmington, DE (August 11, 2022) – *It was a wild one in Wilmington on Thursday night as the Cyclones defeated the Blue Rocks by the score of 7-6 in 12 innings. The Cyclones went just 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position, but Jose Mena’s RBI groundout in the top of the 12th provided the winning margin for the ‘Clones.

Keyshawn Askew made the start for Brooklyn and got ambushed by Wilmington in the bottom of the second. The southpaw allowed a leadoff walk before Yasel Antuna singled to put a pair of runners aboard with nobody out. Onix Vega then tripled into right field to score the pair and give the Blue Rocks a 2-0 lead. Drew Mendoza followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 3-0 before Brooklyn recorded an out in the frame. But, with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out, Askew was able to get Jeremy De La Rosa to ground into a double play to end the threat.

In the top of the third, Brooklyn sliced into the deficit when Rudick led off the frame with a double and came around to score when Stanley Consuegra reached on a two-base error. Consuegra moved up to third on a fly ball from Alex Ramirez and came home on a sac fly off the bat of Jose Peroza that cut the Wilmington lead to 3-2.

The Rocks responded in the bottom half of the frame on a two-out RBI single from Onix Vega, scoring Robert Hassell III – newly acquired in the Juan Soto trade – to push their lead back to 4-2.

The see-saw scoring continued in the top of the fourth when William Lugo worked a lead-off walk and came around to score on an RBI double from Jaylen Palmer that cut the deficit back to a skinny run.

But in the top of the fifth Brooklyn snatched the lead for the first time. Jose Mena had a two-out single and William Lugo drilled a 1-2 offering deep into the Delaware night to give Brooklyn a 5-4 lead. It was Lugo’s first home run with the Cyclones after joining the club from St. Lucie on Tuesday.

Jeffrey Colon came on in relief for Brooklyn in the top of the sixth and tossed 3.0 shutout frames to help keep Brooklyn ahead by a single run as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth.

Dylan Hall came on to try and close out the win for Brooklyn but quickly found himself in trouble. The righthander issued a leadoff walk to Viandel Pena, who advanced to second on a passed ball charged to Jose Mena, putting the tying run on second with nobody out. Hall then got Yoander Rivero to strike out and Jeremy De La Rosa to fly out. But down to their final out Jose Sanchez doubled to score the game-tying run and force extra innings.

The teams traded zeroes in the tenth, before Brooklyn took a lead in the top of the 11th on an RBI groundout from Matt Rudick, before Wilmington answered with a sac fly in the bottom of the frame to tie the game at 6-6.

In the 12th, Jose Mena had an RBI groundout with runners on the corners to once again give Brooklyn a lead at 7-6. Daison Acosta pitched the bottom of the 12th, his second inning of work, and was able to close out the win. The righthander retired the first two batters before issuing back-to-back walks to load the bases. Acosta escaped the jam by getting Cole Daily to ground out to first to end the game.

With the win, the Cyclones moved back into first place, ½ a game ahead of the Hudson Valley Renegades. RHP Junior Santos will make the start for Brooklyn on Friday evening when the teams square off at 6:35 PM.