WATERLOO, Iowa – The bullpen didn’t do its job in the second half of the Border Cats doubleheader against the Waterloo Bucks.
Jimmy Cerha, who came on for Makaio Cisneros to start the sixth, was tagged for three runs and took the loss as Thunder Bay’s 3-2 lead was wiped out en route to a 6-3 defeat.
The two team’s split Tuesday’s twinbill, the Border Cats winning the opener 6-3.
Down 3-2 to start the bottom of the sixth, Waterloo clean-up hitter Jimmy Nugent slammed a game-tying home run.
It went down hill from there for Cerha and the Border Cats.
Larry Edwards singled and stole second, pinch hitter Brody Leyboldt reached on a bunt single, and Parker Sweeney’s ground out to second allowed Edwards to score from third, giving the Bucks a 4-3 lead.
They weren’t done yet.
Back-to-back walks and a fielder’s choice left runners on the corners and Jake Bechtel came through in the clutch, driving a two-out, two-run double to right that upped the Waterloo advantage to three.
Cisneros was sailing along until the fifth inning, not allowing a hit in the first four frames, of a game scheduled for just seven innings because Monday's series opener was rained out.
Parker Sweeney broke up the no-hit bid leading off the fifth, then, with one out, Owen Ross homered to left for a 2-0 Waterloo lead.
The Cats loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth, and all three runners scored on separate wild pitches by reliever Tyler Glowacki, who took over from starter Chris Peterson after Jordan Bach reached.
The loss snapped Thunder Bay’s six-game winning streak and dropped the Cats to 18-11, with six games left in the opening half. It leaves them 2.5 games behind first-place La Crosse (21-9) and a game-and-a-half behind the Bucks (20-10).
The Border Cats head to St. Cloud against the Great Plains West-leading Rox (21-7) for a pair on Wednesday and Thursday before returning homer to take on Mankato on Friday and Saturday, wrapping up their first half with a Port Arthur Stadium visit by the Bucks.
