Bats Ignite Brooklyn In 9-7 Triumph over Jersey Shore

• BOX SCORE

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (April 20, 2024) — DH Nolan McLean notched his first career three-hit game and RF Ryan Clifford reached base three times, leading the Brooklyn Cyclones to a 9-7 victory over the Jersey Shore BlueClaws on Saturday afternoon at ShoreTown Ballpark.

Brooklyn (6-8) held a slim 3-2 lead before breaking out in the fifth inning. Clifford was hit by the first pitch of the inning, and afterward, 1B Nick Lorusso hit a sinking fly ball into the right field for a hit. An errant relay throw to third allowed Clifford to score and Lorusso to advance to third, increasing Brooklyn's lead to 4-2.

Following a walk to LF Joe Suozzi, McLean blasted his second double of the day down the left-field line, scoring Lorusso. SS Kevin Villavicencio then cracked a two-run triple over the center fielder’s head, and CF Omar De Los Santos followed with an RBI double to cap a five-run burst.

In the sixth, Jersey Shore (8-6) returned the favor. RF Leandro Pineda rifled the first pitch of the inning onto the right-field berm for a solo home run. His second of the series and the season made it an 8-3 contest.

LF Emaarion Boyd was hit by a pitch, took second on a balk, third on a wild pitch, and scored on DH Hendry Mendez’s infield single. C Andrick Nava later added a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 8-5. A walk and another wild pitch brought the BlueClaws to within one before SS Bryan Rincon singled home a run, making it 8-7.

Brooklyn added an insurance run in the eighth when 3B Wilfredo Lara reached on an infield single, advanced on an error, and scored on Lorusso's single to left, extending their lead to 9-7.

RHP Victor Castañeda (1-1) earned his first win as a member of the New York Mets’ organization on Saturday. The 25-year-old struck out four over two spotless innings of relief, while RHP Justin Lawson worked a scoreless ninth for his third save.

RHP Jordan Geber took a no-decision in his second start of the season. The former Virginia Tech Hokie yielded two runs over four innings.

RHP Estibenzon Jiménez (0-3) took his third defeat for the BlueClaws despite permitting just one earned run. The Venezuela native was taxed for three total, striking out a season-high seven, over four frames.

The Cyclones finished with a season-high nine runs and 14 hits. McLean led the pack with his three-hit performance, but Clifford, De Los Santos, Lorusso, Villavicencio, and 2B Mateo Gil added multi-knock efforts.

Brooklyn goes for a series split in the finale on Sunday. RHP Brandon Sproat (0-0, 1.35), the Mets’ No. 11 prospect according to Baseball America, is slated to make his second start in the series. Jersey Shore projects to counter with LHP Braeden Fausnaught (2-0, 0.82), who is doing the same. The first pitch from ShoreTown Ballpark is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.