BKN Cyclones ~ Battle of the Boroughs III; Staten Island

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Battle of the Boroughs III

BROOKLYN CYCLONES

vs.

Staten Island Yankees

From

The Ballpark at St. George

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Aim To Gain Ground On Staten Island and Shorten Yankee Lead.

The third installment of the Battle for the Narrows starts off in Richmond County tonight. 


The Yankees have a firm grip on not just the McNamara Division, they are dominating the League.  They are the only team in the New York-Penn League playing above .600 baseball.  The fact is, they are playing to a .717 winning percentage.  Quite simply, the Yankees are running away with the
NY-PL this season.  Their 33-13 record is tops by a wide margin.  The Auburn Doubledays and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers are next in wins, tied with twenty-eight each.


The Yankees have been slugging their way through the circuit with the League's #1 offense.  Their over-all team pitching ranks 4th behind #3 Brooklyn.  Brooklyn's offense ranks 6th in the League.


The Yankees have more RBI that Brooklyn; 209 to 194.  Auburn is #1 with 241.  But the Cyclones have a considerable edge in home runs; 31 to 21 for the Yanks.  Lowell leads the League with 39.  And it's the Yanks who have the advantage in runs scored over Brooklyn; 236 against 212.  Auburn again is the League leader with 262.


In the hill, the Cyclones own a better team ERA than Staten Island does; 3.13 against 3.31.  However, both are quite good.  Staten Island has kept the opposition to a lower batting average against than Brooklyn has; .244 versus .256 for the Cyclones.  Brooklyn sports a better WHIP than Staten Island does; 1.28 to 1.36.  The Cyclones have even thrown twice as many shut-outs than Staten Island has; 4 against 2.


But alas, wins are all that really matter in the standings.  The second place Brooklyn Cyclones (25-22) trail the Yankees in the McNamara Division by 8.5 games; with thirty-one games left in the regular season; including tonight's series opener. 


Hudson Valley is right on the Cyclone's heals nine games back of first.  While in the Wild Card standings, the Cyclones have three teams; all from the Pickney Division ahead of them.  Mahoning Valley has twenty-eight wins; Jamestown and Williamsport both have twenty-six wins apiece.


It's been a scrappy kind of season for the Cyclones.  The components for a successful finish are all in place.  It's just been a strange season with hard-luck endings sometimes.  I have loads of confidence in these guys as we head down the stretch.




Mike.BTB