Brooklyn Cyclones: Possible Round One Match-Up - Game Two Versus Tri City Tonight

From the home of:   THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Down to the Final Fifteen Games of the Regular Season, the Coney Island Nine Are Now Four Games Out of First Place.


Heading into tonight's action, the Brooklyn Cyclones are four games behind the Hudson Valley Renegades in the McNamara Division race.  And for the moment, they hold a four game lead over the Batavia Muckdogs in the Wild Card standings.  Fifteen games remain in the regular season.  And nothing is certain.


Tuesday night in Coney Island, the Surf Avenue Sluggers kicked-off a home stand, but failed to help their cause by dropping the first game against the League's top team, the Tri City Valley Cats.  The  circuit's best club sports a 44-17 record, and lead the Stedler Division by 15.5 games over the Connecticut Tigers.  For the Brooklyn Cyclones (37-24), this series is shaping up as a playoff preview should they advance into the post-season via the Wild Card.


Brooklyn starter, Rainy Lara, was looking to improve upon his league best seven wins.  But Tri City's starter, Juri Perez, was better.  Rainy was solid through the first four innings.  In the fifth however, the Valley Cats went to work against one of the League's top starters.  Of course, there was a lead-off walk to start things off.  Rainy then hit the second batter with a pitch.  A walk issued to the third batter loaded the bases.  The next batter, Austin Elkins, was ejected mid at-bat for arguing balls and strikes with the home plate ump.  Pinch-hitting, Emilio King struck out.  Then an RBI single plated two runs.  Another single and a sac-fly then made the score 4-2 after four and a half innings of play.


Brooklyn scored their two runs back in the third inning.  After Juan Carlos Gamboa led off the inning with a double, Nelfi Zapata crushed his second home run of the season, which at the time, gave the Cyclones a 2-0 lead.


The Valley Cats picked up one more run in the sixth, and the game ended in a 5-2 final.  Tri City's Juri Perez pitched six full innings, allowing seven hits, and two earned runs.  He walked one and struck out five.  Out of the bullpen, Jeremiah Meiners took care of Brooklyn over the next three innings.  He allowed just one hit, and struck out three batters to earn his second save of the season.  Rainy Lara suffered loss number two.


In game two tonight in Coney Island, Brooklyn's Luis Cessa will start for Brooklyn, and will face Tri City's Lance Day.




Mike.BTB