Holt’s Gem Not Enough in 2-1 Loss

August 23, 2008   ·   Patrick Hickey, Jr.   ·   Jump to comments

It’s not too often you get to see a pitcher’s duel in today’s game and it’s even rarer to see two in as many days.

That, however, is exactly what the Brooklyn Cyclones and Lowell treated the 7,341 fans in attendance at Keyspan Park to on Friday, but unlike the night before, it was the Spinners who were on the winning end, edging out the Baby Bums 2-1 in a game that produced only six hits between both clubs.

“Tonight was tough,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo. “You have to tip your cap to the way they pitched tonight.”

After Scott Shaw and the Brooklyn bullpen limited Lowell to only one-hit on Thursday, Mets first round pick Brad Holt was more than solid against the Boston Red Sox Single-A affiliate as well, throwing two scoreless innings to start the game. Holt [4-3, 1.75 ERA] ran into trouble in the third though, giving up a pair of hits, including an RBI double by Ronald Bermudez that put the Spinners ahead by one.

Those two hits were all Holt, who had 10 strikeouts on the night, gave up, but it wasn’t enough for to come out with a victory.

“A lot of the time, they weren’t even swinging,” said Holt. “They were just watching.”

As good as Holt was, Spinners starter Kyle Weiland was that much better, limiting the Mets Single-A affiliate to only one hit in five innings of work.

Righty reliever Charle Rosario replaced Weiland in the sixth, but Brooklyn was still unable to muster any offense in the inning. The Clones did catch a break however when Mitchell Herold came into the game in the seventh for Lowell with a runner on third with two outs. The first hitter he faced, Jordan Abruzzo, hit a routine ground ball to short, which should have ended the inning, but first baseman Ricardo Burgos couldn’t stretch out far enough to grab the throw, allowing Kirk Nieuwenhuis to score and tie the game at 1-1.

“It felt good to get that run in the eighth,” said Nieuwenhuis. “But it just didn’t happen for us tonight. Their pitchers were keeping us off balance all night.”

Clones closer Yury Santana replaced Holt in the eighth and kept the game at 1-1 until he gave up a monstrous solo home run off the top of the Keyspan Park scoreboard courtesy of Luis Sumoza in the ninth, giving the Spinners their one-run lead back at 2-1.

Seth Garrison then closed the game out for Lowell and retired all three hitters he faced, putting the finishing touches on a 2-1 Cyclones loss.

“If you don’t hit, it’s hard to win,” said Alfonzo. “Tonight was the first time in a long time that we only had two hits. We have to go out tomorrow and beat these guys.”

Notes-

Ike Davis continues to struggle this season and has hit .207 in his last ten games.

There is still no timetable on the return of Reese Havens or Matt Smith, who are suffering from groin and calf injuries respectively.

Havens is however expected to run the bases in practice tomorrow and will be evaluated again.

Video-

Brad Holt strikeout.

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Photos by Ron Hatcher. Video by Patrick Hickey Jr.