Osborn, Tidwell Help Cyclones Torpedo IronBirds, 5-0

Blade tosses a career-high 7.0 shutout innings, Drake homers twice, drives in four

By Justin Rocke

June 17, 2023

BOX SCORE
PLAY-BY-PLAY ABERDEEN, Md. (June 17, 2023) — Thanks to stellar pitching and timely hitting, Brooklyn return to the winner’s circle on Saturday night. RHP Blade Tidwell hurled a career-best seven frames of shutout ball, while C Drake Osborn homered twice and drove in four, as the

ABERDEEN, Md. (June 17, 2023) — Thanks to stellar pitching and timely hitting, Brooklyn return to the winner’s circle on Saturday night. RHP Blade Tidwell hurled a career-best seven frames of shutout ball, while C Drake Osborn homered twice and drove in four, as the Cyclones blanked the Aberdeen IronBirds, 5-0, from Leidos Field at Ripken Stadium.

A scoreless game through five innings, the Cyclones (26-35) went without a base hit until the top of the sixth.

On the second pitch of the frame, Osborn obliterated an offering into Brooklyn’s left-field bullpen for a solo home run. The Corpus Christi, Texas native’s fifth of the season broke up the no-hit bid and put the Cyclones in front, 1-0.

In the following frame, Osborn made noise once again. LF Omar De Los Santos reached on a two-base throwing error with one out and swiped third before 2B Chase Estep walked and stole second with two out.

Facing RHP Keagan Gillies, who had only allowed one run on one hit over his first 14 appearances of the season, Osborn poked a ball that dunked into shallow center field for a single. De Los Santos and Estep scored without a throw, tripling Brooklyn’s lead to three.

In the eighth, the Cyclones added further insurance. CF Alex Ramírez roped a one-out base hit to center and advanced to third when DH D’Andre Smith hammered a ground-rule double to right-center field. SS William Lugo followed with a sacrifice fly to center to make it a 4-0 contest.

Osborn put the finishing touches on the victory in the ninth. After RHP Carson Carter punched out the first two batters of the inning, the 24-year-old walloped another towering drive into Brooklyn’s left-field bullpen. Osborn’s second home run of the day — and his team-high-tying sixth of the year — capped a 5-0 triumph for the Cyclones.

Tidwell (3-3) was sublime on Saturday evening. The New York Mets’ No. 7 prospect per Baseball America, hurled a career-best seven innings of shutout ball, striking out six en route to his third win of 2023.

RHP Dylan Tebrake finished off the four-hit shutout. The former Creighton Bluejay whiffed three over two spotless frames.

Despite permitting only one hit, RHP Alex Pham (3-3) was handed his third defeat of the year for Aberdeen. The right-hander became the first IronBird pitcher to toss six-full innings this season, striking out nine.

Brooklyn looks to earn a series split in the rubber match of the set on Sunday afternoon. RHP Cameron Foster (2-4, 5.28) is expected to make his second start of the week for the Cyclones. The IronBirds are projected to give the ball to the Orioles’ No. 28 farmhand per Baseball America, RHP Jean Pinto (1-1, 2.86). The first pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.