Monday, August 13, 2012

Brooklyn Cyclones: Sweep Monsters in Three; Four Cyclones Head to All Star Game

From the desk of:   THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS







BROOKLYN CYCLONES - The Coney Island Nine Slay the Vermont Lake Monsters 10-5, and Sweep Three Game Series.

Four Cyclones Heading to the All Star Game.

THREE STATEN ISLAND YANKEES SELECTED.


With the weekend's action complete, Brooklyn heads into the New York Penn League All*Star break one game behind in the McNamara Division standings to the first place Hudson Valley Renegades.  Their lead in the Wild Card race now stands at six games over the State College Spikes.  When games resume again on Wednesday, there will be twenty-two games left in the regular season.


On Sunday, the Surf Avenue Sluggers completed a three game sweep in Coney Island over Vermont by pummeling the Lake Monsters 10-5, while Lowell helped the Brooks by defeating the Renegades 5-2 up in Peekskill, N.Y.


After four and a half innings, the game was tied at four apiece.  In the second inning, a double followed by an RBI single put Vermont on the board first against Brooklyn starter, Rainy Lara.  Vermont increased their lead in the fourth.  After a lead-off triple, another RBI single made it a 2-0 game.


In the bottom of the fourth, the Cyclones struck back.  Three consecutive singles by Dimas Ponce, Phillip Evans, and Kevin Plawecki, loaded the bases with no outs.  A double by Alexander Sanchez scored Ponce, and Evans.  And a sac-fly by Nelfi Zapata scored Plawecki from third.  Richie Rodriguez then drove in the fourth Cyclones run of the inning with a single delivering Sanchez.


In the top of the fifth, the Lake Monsters tied the score against Rainy Lara.  Three singles and a walk led to two runs.  But Lara, composed himself to strike out the last two batters of the inning and keep the score at four apiece.  The Cyclones allowed Lara to exit the game on the winning side with a go-ahead home run by Dimas Ponce; his first; in the bottom of the inning.


Rainy Lara pitched five full, allowing seven hits and four earned runs.  He walked one and struck out six before giving way to Logan Taylor in the sixth.  Taylor pitched two stellar innings, surrendering nothing, while striking out three.


In the bottom of the sixth, Brooklyn blew the game open with four more runs.  With one out, Eudy Pina singled, and Brandon Nimmo followed with a double.  Then Dimas Ponce stepped in, and continued his individual onslaught with another single driving home both runners.  Kevin Plawecki drove Ponce home with another RBI single.  And Alexander Sanchez continued his assault as well, with another single to drive in Plawecki.


In the bottom of the seventh, the Cyclones scored once more for good measure.  Eudy Pina scored on one of Vermont's three errors committed in the game.


After Logan Taylor, relievers David Wynn and John Mincone shared eighth inning duties flawlessly.  Then it was up to Tyler Vanderheiden to close out the game.  I do not know what it is about closers being ineffective in non-save situations, but VandyMan followed tradition.  He allowed three hits and one run before securing three outs.  But no harm done; Cyclones win by a 10-5 final score.


Starting pitcher Rainy Lara racked up his seventh win of the season against just one loss.  Today, Rainy Lara is now the New York Penn League leader in wins, and is only four strikeouts behind his team mate, Luis Mateo (67), for tops in the circuit in that category.


The Cyclones scored their ten runs on the strength of fourteen hits.  Dimas Ponce, Kevin Plawecki, and Alexander Sanchez all had three hits each.  And Brandon Nimmo is continuing right along in the lead-off spot, with two more hits in five at-bats.  Brooklyn batted 6 for 12 with runners in scoring position.  He is one of only seven NYPL pitchers with a WHIP below the 1.00 mark.  Not incidentally, four of those seven pitchers are Brooklyn Cyclones!  And to cap things off, the league's top three strikeout leaders are also all Cyclones.



2012 New York Penn League All Star Game
From Eastwood Field, Home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, Ohio



The Brooklyn Cyclones are sending four representatives to the eighth annual NYPL All*Star game; all pitchers.  And that's only appropriate, as strong pitching has marked the Cyclones' season, and dominated the League so far.  Three starting pitchers; Luis Mateo, Gabriel Ynoa; and Hansel Robles will perhaps take a turn on the mound.  And if things go well, reliever John Mincone; Brooklyn's fourth selection; can see some action as well.  As highlighted above, the League's top winner, Rainy Lara, although deserving, will be unavailable.


This year's All Star Game will be played at Eastwood Field, home of the Mahoning Valley Scrappers in Ohio.  The teams are broken up into American League and National League affiliation.


Brooklyn's chief rival, the Staten Island Yankees will be sending three players to join the American League squad.  Pitcher James Pazos; first baseman Matt Snyder; and outfielder Taylor Dugas will represent the Richmond County Baby Bombers in Tuesday's game.


STATS:









Mike.BTB

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