It was time to break out the hardware to celebrate the Cyclones’ win over the Wilmington Blue Rocks after the first game of a five-game home series. With the Cyclones’ present of a WWE heavyweight championship belt, it was time to share it with the team to honor the player of the game. The first to wear the belt for a postgame celebration was Brooklyn’s own Jaylen Palmer, who hit two home runs in the 5-0 win.
The customized victory belt with the Cyclones logo on the side panels was a thank you gesture from Stephanie McMahon for the team’s support of the WWE’s charitable work with children undergoing cancer treatment. Palmer earned the evening’s belt presentation by getting the team on the board in the first inning with a solo home run over the left field wall for a 1-0 lead. Then in the fifth, he crushed a 420-foot shot over the center field wall to put them up 4-0. It was his third home run of the season.
Wearing the jewel-studded WWE belt with “Amazin Starts Here” scripted on the side panels, Palmer finished the game going 2-for-4 with two home runs, two runs scored and three RBIs. Fans were also treated to a well-pitched game by David Griffin, a recent call-up from Low-A St. Lucie. Griffin won his second game of the season, giving up four hits with two strikeouts in seven innings. He continued a two-game 13-inning scoreless streak.
Brooklyn took three out of five games in the Wilmington series, finishing strong in the finale with a 6-1 win that featured Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio hitting their 18th home runs. As the season winds down, the last-place Cyclones (42-63) go on their last road trip to Hudson Valley to play the first place Renegades (64-43) before returning home to end the season against the Jersey Shore Blue Claws.