Brooklyn Cyclones: Season Starts Getting a Little Wild

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

Brooklyn Cyclones: Mother Nature and Coney Hurlers Too Much for Lowell Spinners; Baby Bums Take Two.

Brooklyn's Baby Bums put a halt to Lowell's winning streak, but not without an assist from Mother Nature.

On Friday, the red hot Spinners promptly take game one at Coney Island for their eleventh victory in a row.  The Cyclones were then trailing 2-1 on Saturday when the rains came forcing a suspension after just three innings of play.

Picking up where game two left off, Nick Meyer's RBI single in the fifth, and Ross Adolph's sac-fly in the sixth give Brooklyn a 3-2 lead.

• Selected in the sixth round of this year's draft, Meyer (21 for 66) is slashing .318/.348/.409 with five extra-base hits, only two walks, but just five strikeouts!

Cyclones pitching takes care of the rest.  Reliever Billy Oxford climbs the bump for Sunday's restart.  He faces eleven batters over three innings, allowing no runs on just three hits and no walks, with three strikeouts.  He throws forty pitches with 30 (75%) going for strikes en route to his fourth victory of the season against just one loss.  He boasts an identical 1.19 ERA and WHiP through 22.2 innings pitched.  Yeudy Colon follows with two scoreless innings, and Ryley Gilliam pitches a scoreless ninth for his second save.

GAME TWO

With Sunday's regularly scheduled game shortened into a seven inning affair, Walter Rasquin's RBI in the third would be all the Brooks would need.  Making his seventh start, Jaison Vilera throws 5.2 innings of scoreless ball, allowing just five hits, walking three, and fanning five for his second win over Lowell this season.  Tommy Wilson completes the Lowell whitewashing with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.

• Jaison Vilera improves 4-1 through seven starts and continues to impress.  His minuscule 0.92 ERA ties him for the league lead.  With just 21 hits allowed through 39 innings pitched, he is tied for fifth with an 0.87 WHiP, while his five strikeouts give him 48 for the season, ranking him second.

The Cyclones add a run when second baseman Chandler Avant scores from third on a passed ball in the fourth.  Three base hits and a pair of Lowell errors in the fifth give the Cyclones a 4-0 lead and their final margin of victory.

GETTING A LITTLE WILD

With a twin-bill sweep of the Lowell Spinners the Cyclones join the New York-Penn League's twenty win club (20-16) and slide back into second place of the McNamara Division standings, one-half game ahead of the Staten Island Yankees, and three games back of the Hudson Valley Renegades.  The Lowell Spinners fall to second place in the Stedler Division, and into a tie with the Brooklyn Cyclones for the top Wild Card spot.