One day after State College Spikes starter Adam Ottavino dominated the Brooklyn Cyclones, fellow starter Brad Furnish was unable to outdo his teammate.
Furnish walked two batters and recorded two wild pitches in five innings of work, but it was the inability of the bullpen to hold the lead that allowed Brooklyn to escape with the 5-4 win last night.
The Spikes' pitchers allowed runs in three straight innings, including one after the team's third wild pitch in the seventh by left-hander Brian Schroeder.
Furnish had a rough day with his control. He put himself in a hole early in the first inning. After hitting the leadoff batter Jeremy Hambrice, Furnish threw back-to-back wild pitches. Hambrice eventually scored on a ground out by Jon Schemmel.
Furinsh was named the opening day starter but has been outperformed by Ottavino, who pitched six-shutout innings last night. He has only allowed one run (unearned) all season, while Furnish has yet to truly dominate a game.
Even with the lack of good pitching, the Spikes' offense still gave them a chance to win the game.
After a sub-par performance on Sunday, the top of the order was back to normal. Outfielders Jim Rapoport and Nathan Southard, and infielder Jared Schweitzer combined for five of seven State College hits. But it was the middle of the lineup that came up short. Hitters No. 4 through No. 8 were unable to crack the code that was the Brooklyn pitching staff.
The offense was good enough to give the Spikes a 3-1 lead, but once again when Spikes manager Mark DeJohn went to his relievers with the game on the line, they came up short.
After Furnish stopped the bleeding, he left with a one-run lead still intact, and that is where things became interesting.
Reliever Lance Marcum was the first to be sent in by DeJohn, and he quickly gave the Cyclones' hitters confidence. He allowed four consecutive hits, including a RBI-double from Jason Jacobs that gave Brooklyn the lead, which it would never relinquish.
The Spikes' offense attempted a comeback in the eighth, but the middle of the lineup again came up short. Pinch hitter Yonathan Sivira grounded out with a runner in scoring position to end the rally.
Pitcher of the Week
Spikes right-handed pitcher Adam Ottavino was named New York-Penn League Pitcher of the Week for July 2-9. Ottavino dominated both Jamestown and Brooklyn in his last two starts to earn the honors.
He scattered three hits in 12-1/3 innings pitched, including six innings of shutout baseball in his hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. on Sunday.
