Brooklyn Bested by BlueClaws in 11, 2-1

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LAKEWOOD, N.J. - Despite Brooklyn pitchers holding Jersey Shore to only three hits on the night, the Cyclones fell to the BlueClaws, 2-1, in 11 innings on Thursday night. The loss drops Brooklyn to 0-5 on the young season, their worst mark through 5 games in 20 years. RF Devin Saltiban’s walk-off single in the 11th off of RHP Cristofer Gomez won the game for Jersey Shore.

For a 5th straight game to open the year, Brooklyn has struggled mightily with men in scoring position. On Thursday, Brooklyn was 0-for-17 with RISP. On the season, the Cyclones are just 1-for-55 (.018) with men in scoring position. Additionally, the Cyclones left 14 men on base through the 11 innings.

Still, Brooklyn arms proved to be excellent throughout the night. RHP Channing Austin was sharp in his first start of the year. The Brooklynite threw 4.0 innings of two-hit, one-run ball, while striking out four and walking five. After him, the trio of RHPs Parker Carlson, Brett Banks and Hunter Hodges combined on 6 no-hit innings with 13 strikeouts and no walks. The trio went 18 up and 18 down, part of a stretch of 21 straight BlueClaws retired. There were 34 combined strikeouts in the game, as Brooklyn punched 18 while Jersey Shore struck out 16 Brooklyn batters.

For the 4th time in the first five games of the year, Brooklyn allowed a run in the first inning. Saltiban led off the home 1st with a triple thanks to a collision in left field. SS Antonio Jimenez and LF Yohairo Cuevas collided near the left field foul line, prompting a collision which forced Jimenez to depart the ballgame. Saltiban would score two batters later on a sac fly from LF Joel Dragoo for the game’s first run.

The two teams would trade zeroes all the way until the top of the 5th. With the bases loaded and one out, C Daiverson Gutiérrez hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring CF Diego Mosquera from 3rd to tie the game.

The bullpens would dominate the game for the back half of the contest. Brooklyn could not cash in the go-ahead run in the 7th (two-out hit by pitch), 8th (1-out double) or 9th (2-out single).

In the top of 10th, Brooklyn wasted yet another prime opportunity. After a hit by pitch to put men on 1st and 2nd with nobody out, a 4-6 fielder’s choice put men on the corners with one away. From there, a walk would load the bases before a pop out infield fly rule and strikeout ended the inning to keep things tied. Still, Jersey Shore went down 1-2-3 in the home 10th.

In the 11th, after the first two men were retired, a wild pitch put the go-ahead run on 3rd base with two outs. Still, LF Vincent Perozo struck out looking to keep things knotted up.

In the bottom half of the 11th, a 1-out walk-off single from Saltiban - just the third Jersey Shore hit of the night - won the game for the BlueClaws.

The Cyclones will aim to grab their first win of the season on Friday night, when they’ll send RHP Noah Hall (0-1, 3.86 ERA) to the mound for his 2nd start of the year. Jersey Shore projects to counter with RHP Luke Gabrysh (0-0, 3.00 ERA). First pitch is slated for 6:35 p.m.