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Tucker limits damage in loss to Hudson Valley
In his first five starts since being promoted to Single-A Jersey Shore, former Northview standout Braydon Tucker has pitched in the series finales, all of which have been played on Sunday afternoons.
That changed last week when the BlueClaws pushed him up one day in the rotation and had the right-hander throw on Saturday against the Brooklyn Cyclones, the High-A affiliate of the New York Mets, leaving a question about which game Tucker would pitch over the weekend against the Hudson Valley Renegades, the High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees.
And when Jack Dallas, a right-handed reliever for Jersey Shore, took the ball as the opener in a bullpen game on Saturday evening, it was evident that Tucker would be back in his normal spot on Sunday.
That came to be true as the hard-throwing righty toed the slab in the six-game series finale against the Renegades, which turned out to be a day of avoiding damage for Tucker.
Hudson Valley had traffic on the bases in each of the four innings, leading to a pair of runs to cross in the third inning that scored the Yankees’ No. 3 (shortstop George Lombard Jr.) and No. 21 (second baseman Roc Riggio) prospects.
Tucker allowed eight hits and one walk in his 3.2 innings of work but managed to limit Hudson Valley to just two runs by coming up with big pitches in big moments to strand seven runners on the basepaths, which included three of his four strikeouts, and in doing so kept his team in the game.
Jersey Shore trimmed the deficit in half in the fifth, but the Renegades responded with a four-run sixth inning to keep the home team from mounting a comeback, leaving Tucker with his second loss of the season.
Jersey Shore wraps up the regular season with a six-game series against the Aberdeen IronBirds, the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles that rosters the organization’s No. 15 (outfielder Thomas Sosa), No. 21 (infielder Leandro Arias) and No. 29 (infielder Aron Estrada), beginning Tuesday night. It’ll mark the second time Tucker, who now owns a 3.63 ERA, has faced Aberdeen during his time with the BlueClaws. The former Knight worked six innings of one-run baseball while striking out five batters in a no decision on July 28.