Boulders Drop Two in Troy

Offense Kept Quiet by Tri-City

Troy, NY – The New York Boulders opened a critical four-game Frontier League showdown at Joseph L. Bruno Stadium (aka “The Joe”), but got swept by the Tri-City ValleyCats in a Tuesday night doubleheader, 5-2 and 5-1, as they fell 7½ games back of the ‘Cats for the #1 wild card in the Atlantic Conference.

Tri-City (53-32) took the lead for good in the first inning of Game One, scoring three unearned runs o RHP Aidan Risse (L, 4-5 / 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K), who threw a six-inning complete game.

New York (45-39) saw its final eight batters retired by winning pitcher Duke Brotherton (4-2) and two relievers, managing just an RBI single from Jason Agresti in the top of the first and a Jack Scanlon sacrifice fly in the second.

Game Two saw the Boulders held to just two hits by the league’s wins leader Stephen Still (11-3), who retired the final 13 batters after Austin Dennis smacked a third-inning RBI single that made the score 2-1.

But the ValleyCats put the nightcap out of reach in the bottom of the third on a two-out, two-run single by 2B Josue Urdaneta against RHP Cole Patten (L, 0-1 / 3 IP, 4 R, 7 H, 2 BB, 2 K).

Also of note:

* The Boulders have fallen 3½ games behind Sussex County for first place in the East Division and saw their lead for the final playoff spot sliced to just ½ a game over Ottawa

* Dennis (1-for-2 and 1-for-3) increased his league-leading hit total to 124, scored his league-best 85th run of the season, and made it at least one hit in 27 of New York’s 29 games since the All-Star Break

* Rookie CF Ryan Vogel (3rd inning walk) extended his on-base streak to 22 consecutive games

* LHP Cobe Reeves saw his first action since July 6th and worked two scoreless innings out of the bullpen in Game Two

The series continues tomorrow (Wednesday) night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:30pm EDT.