Ramírez, Estep Help 'Clones Crack 'Claws

Duo combines for seven hits, four runs scored, and four RBI in 10-6 win

By Justin Rocke

June 4, 2023

BOX SCORE
PLAY-BY-PLAY LAKEWOOD, N.J. (June 4, 2023) — CF Alex Ramírez tallied three hits and smashed a titanic solo home run, while 2B Chase Estep collected a career-high four knocks and drove in a tally, as the Brooklyn Cyclones slugged their way to a 10-6 win over

LAKEWOOD, N.J. (June 4, 2023) — CF Alex Ramírez tallied three hits and smashed a titanic solo home run, while 2B Chase Estep collected a career-high four knocks and drove in a tally, as the Brooklyn Cyclones slugged their way to a 10-6 win over the Jersey Shore BlueClaws on Sunday afternoon at ShoreTown Ballpark.

Scoreless after one, Brooklyn (22-28) broke the game wide open in the top of the second inning.

DH Drake Osborn walked to start the inning and advanced to second on the first of Estep’s four hits. Following a strikeout and a balk, 3B Mateo Gil whacked a double down the line in left to chase both runners home to give the Cyclones a 2-0 edge.

RF Omar De Los Santos kept the attack going with a walk. After an infield fly and a passed ball that moved runners to second and third, Ramírez hammered a two-base hit off the base of the left-field wall. Two scored on the double to increase Brooklyn’s advantage to 4-0.

Two pitches later, SS William Lugo demolished a towering drive to the walkway beyond the berm in left field for a two-run home run. The 21-year-old’s second long ball of the series and the season capped the Cyclones’ six-run second.

Brooklyn added to their lead in the third. Estep reached on a one-out single to center before taking second on a wild pitch. Following a whiff and a walk, De Los Santos scalded a single to center to put the ‘Clones up a touchdown, 7-0.

In the next two half innings, both sides traded run-scoring fielding errors. Jersey Shore chipped the deficit down to five in the fourth thanks to a bases-loaded walk to CF Cristian Pache and a balk.

In the sixth, Ramírez tattooed the second offering of the frame way beyond the left-field wall for a solo home run. The 20-year-old’s fourth jack of the campaign and third hit of the day put the Cyclones up six, 9-3.

The BlueClaws trimmed the debt down to three in the seventh and eighth courtesy of a throwing error and RBI singles from LF-CF Jared Carr and C Rafael Marchán.

Estep added insurance for Brooklyn in the ninth. Osborn began the frame with a hustle double and took third on a wild pitch before the Corbin, Ky. native drove him home with a worm burner through the hole between first and second.

RHP Blade Tidwell did not factor into the decision after tossing 2.2 innings of hitless ball, permitting one unearned run in a scheduled abbreviated start. RHP Paul Gervase (1-2) collected his first win of the year yielding one hit in 2.1 frames.

LHP Rafael Marcano (2-3) was taxed for six runs over two innings in his start for the BlueClaws, suffering his second defeat of the year and third of the season.

After the league-wide off day on Monday, the Cyclones will return home to open a six-game series against the Greenville Drive, the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, on Tuesday evening at Maimonides Park. Neither squad has announced a probable starter for the series opener. The first pitch is slated for 6 p.m.