Brooklyn Tallies Season-High 16 Runs in 16-12 Win Over Tourists

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Friday night at HomeTrust Park was a shootout from the first pitch, and Brooklyn controlled it wire to wire. The Cyclones put up a season-high 16 runs on 20 hits in a 16-12 win, handing Asheville its second loss of the series.

Kellan Oakes was roughed up early, allowing eight runs on twelve hits in 3.2 innings as Brooklyn jumped out to leads of 2-0, 5-1, and 8-4 before the Tourists could find any sustained offense. Yonatan Henriquez was the biggest thorn in Asheville's side, going deep twice, a three-run shot in the seventh that made it 14-5 and a solo homer in the ninth to push it to 16-9. Anthony Cruz was the steadiest arm out of the Asheville bullpen, striking out five in 2.2 innings to keep the deficit from growing even larger through the middle innings.

Brooklyn got going immediately. A Nick Monistere throwing error in the first allowed two runs to score before Trey Snyder singled to score another. 2-0 before Asheville had recorded an out. Xavier Neyens answered with a solo home run in the bottom half to cut it to 2-1, but the Cyclones kept adding. Snyder singled to score a run in the second. Chase Meggers doubled and Eddinson Paulino singled in the third to push it to 5-1.

Asheville showed fight in the third. A Caden Powell single scored two, and a wild pitch from Conner Ware scored Neyens to cut it to 5-4. But Aidan Smith homered in the fourth and a Daiverson Gutierrez single scored two more to make it 8-4 and effectively end Oakes' night.

The seventh inning put the game out of reach. Paulino singled, a Snyder ground out scored another, John Smith III doubled to score two, and then Henriquez unloaded his three-run bomb to right-center. 14-5 Brooklyn.

Asheville kept swinging. A Kenni Gomez double and a Garcia groundout in the seventh trimmed it to 14-7. Powell launched a two-run home run in the eighth, his 15th of the season, to make it 14-9. Then three Brooklyn runs in the ninth were answered by three Asheville runs on two wild pitches and a Yosweld Vasquez RBI single to set the final at 16-12.

DJ Newman went 4-for-5 with three doubles and an RBI to extend his hitting streak to sixteen games. Powell went 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBIs. Vasquez went 3-for-4 with an RBI in another strong showing.

Asheville and Brooklyn meet again Saturday night at HomeTrust Park. Parker Smith takes the ball for the Tourists. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m.