Jose Sosa hits a home run on his ‘rest day’

Andy Cornish rounds the bases after his first home run of the season. Picture: Paul Holdrick (Image: Archant)

The left-hander, who is 3-0 this season with 21 strikeouts in 19 innings of work, hit a home run and went 4-for-2 with three runs batted in (RBI) in the second game of the weekend’s double-header.

Falcons won the first game 18-4.

In his place, Robbie Almanzar and Michael Osborn earned the wins on the mound.

It was a near-perfect day for the Falcons who are game behind the London Mets in the National Baseball League.

Andy Cornish and Sosa blasted their first homers of the season to take the total number of Falcons to clear the home run wall to seven. Moises Vasquez came close to being the eighth home run hitter when his shot bounced off the top railing.

There was no home run from record-chasing, Maikel Azcuy, though.

Herts fans also had an unexpected surprise when two-time NBL Most Valuable Player Ryan Bird made the trip from the USA for his first game for the Falcons since 6 April 2014. He picked up where he left off, batting 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

The Herts Falcons next game is at home against the Bracknell Blazers on May 31. It is expected to be a difficult game after the Blazers came close to beating the table-topping Mets.

In the other leagues, the Herts Eagles were involved in a closely-fought game with the Essex Redbacks. They lost the first game 6-4, but bounced back to win the second 4-2. This pushes them up one place into sixth position in the Triple-A League standings.

In the Single-A League, the Herts Raptors loaded the bases in the final inning against the Brighton Redhawks which put the tying run on second base and the go-ahead run on first base, but their late rally ended there with the score 18-20.

They is the only Herts team in action this Sunday as the Raptors go on the road again searching for their first win of the season, this time against the Guildford Mavericks.