Brooklyn Cyclones: Yankees Drop Late Hammer on 'Clones

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

 

BATTLE OF THE BOROUGHS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:

Drop Heart Breaker to the Richmond County Bombers.   Division Flag Is All But Out of Reach Now.

To open this latest engagement in the Battle of the Boroughs, Cyclones' starter Luis Mateo was given first crack at the Staten Island Yankees.  Brooklyn's starter kept the Bombers scoreless through his first six innings of work.  He allowed a mere four hits, walked one batter, and struck out five.  In the inning prior, his team mates finally staked him to a fifth inning 1-0 lead on consecutive base hits by Eudy Pina and Brandon Nimmo, which set up Kevin Plawecki's two out RBI single.


By the end of the seventh inning, the Cyclones went through two Staten Island pitchers.  Yankees' starter, Tim Flight, was gone after pitching three scoreless innings, in which he struck out five batters and surrendered two hits.  The Cyclones scored their run off Dietrich Enns who pitched four frames.


During Richmond County's bottom half of the seventh, the Yankees managed only their sixth hit off Luis Mateo, but nothing more.  And into the eighth inning they went with James Pazos on the mound for Staten Island.  He issued a lead-off walk to Phillip Evans, but was spared the consequences via a 6-4-3 double play.


Luis Mateo did not take the mound for an eighth inning.  Although Brooklyn fans in attendance wished he had.  Craig Hansen was summoned from the visitor's bullpen to advance the Cyclones' 1-0 lead forward.  Instead, he tossed Brooklyn's lead into New York Harbor.  Issuing a lead-off walk, then hitting the next batter, was a certain foreshadowing of things to come.  Six batters, two more hits, another hit batter, a grand slam home run, and another Cyclones pitcher later, the Yankees were proud owners of a newly minted 5-1 lead entering the ninth inning.


There was no comeback for Brooklyn; not against James Pazos working his second inning of relief.  After serving up a lead-off single to Julio Concepcion, the Cyclones went down on a 1-4-3 double play, followed by an unassisted put-out at first base.


Brooklyn's Craig Hansen suffered the double-whammy with a blown save, and a loss.  The Cyclones were 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.  They only managed seven scattered hits; all singles.


And well done to Staten Islanders.  Over 5,000 fans attended Richmond County Grounds for Friday night's game.


In western New York State, the Cyclones finally caught a break thanks to a little help from the Williamsport Crosscutters, as they defeated the Muckdogs by a 7-4 score in Batavia.  That means the Cyclones keep their three game lead over the Muckdogs in the race for the Wild Card spot.  Batavia's loss only drops their record to 8-2 over their last ten games.  The Cyclones are 4-6 over that span.


In the McNamara Division race, the Cyclones began the evening five games out of first.  A five run outburst by Aberdeen in the top of the seventh inning, still couldn't help the Iron Birds defeat the Hudson Valley Renegades.  And so, the Cyclones now end their night, six games out of first place.


Twelve games remain in the regular season.





Mike.BTB

Brooklyn Cyclones: Take Series from Vermont Lake Monsters

From the desk of:   THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Take Rubber Game From Monsters.  Remain Three Games Back Of First Place; Wild Card Lead is Five Games.


Monday Night Baseball in Vermont - Contain yourselves.  In the rubber game between the Brooklyn Cyclones and the Lake Champlain Sea Monsters, Coney Island starter Julian Hilario continued a string of scoreless innings pitched, that effectively started Saturday night in the eighth inning of a 4-1 loss.  But in game two of this series played Sunday, Hansel Robles started on the hill, and four Cyclones relievers combined to shutout the Vermont Lake Monsters,, and limit them to three hits all game.


In Monday night's game, Julian Hilario kept the Monsters hitless through the first two innings, and scoreless through the first three innings.


Back in the second inning, Brooklyn staked Hilario to a 4-0 lead.  Juan Carlos Gamboa reached on a two base E-6 to open the doors.  Nelfi Zapata singled, sending Gamboa to third.  Batting ninth in the order, Eudy Pina then stepped in with one out, and crushed his fifth home run of the season.  Brandon Nimmo followed with a single, and was driven home with a two out RBI single by Phillip Evans.  And with that, Vermont's starter, Nolan Sanburn, was directed towards the showers.


In the fourth inning, Vermont managed their second hit off Julian Hilario.  And in the fifth, well..., Vermont's Tyler Vail, struck out the side....that's what happened.  But in the bottom of the fifth, the Monsters put together two hits, and had a runner from third base cut down at the plate on a play scored 5-3-2 to end the inning.  That play brought Julian Hilario's shutout effort to five innings, and Brooklyn's streak of scoreless innings pitched against Vermont this series, to fourteen.


After Brandon Nimmo drew a one-out walk in the sixth, Phillip Evans drove him home yet again with his third single of the game, giving Brooklyn a 5-0 lead.  Except for an inconsequential single, Julian Hilario retired Vermont quietly again in the bottom of the sixth inning.


In the seventh inning, the scoreless innings streak ended at 15.2 innings.  But that came against reliever Logan Taylor; not Julian Hilario.  Coach Donnelly decided the Cyclones' starter's night was through.  He pitched six full innings, allowing five scattered hits.  He walked three, and struck out four batters before giving way to the bullpen.


In the bottom of the seventh, Vermont scored after Phillip Evans committed a one-out error at shortstop.  Then a two out triple delivered that runner home.  Taylor Logan completed his second inning of work.  In all, he allowed two hits and an unearned run.  He walked one, and struck out four.


Against Vermont's fourth pitcher of the evening, Ryan Dull, the Coney Island Nine picked up an insurance run in the ninth.  Stefan Sabol connected on his fifth home run of the season, to give the Brooks a 6-1 lead.


In the Monster's last licks, they faced Brooklyn's Tyler Vanderheiden.  For a brief moment, things went awry.  Another E-6 by Phillip Evans was followed by consecutive wild pitches by Vanderheiden.  A single then drove home Vermont's second run of the game, but nothing more.  The Cyclones win the third game of the series by a 6-2 score, and take two of three from the Lake Monsters.


The Batavia Muckdogs and Hudson Valley Renegades were also winners tonight.  So we end the night as things were, when we started.  The Brooklyn Cyclones (37-23) trail the first place Hudson Valley Renegades (40-20) in the McNamara Division by three games.  In the Wild Card race, the Cyclones hold a five game lead over the Batavia Muckdogs.  Sixteen games remain in the Cyclones' regular season.


Next stop - Coney Island, where the Cyclones will host the top team in the circuit; the Stedler Division leading Tri City Valley Cats.




Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Sweep... and Away!

From the desk of:   THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  After Taking Three Straight From the Doubledays, and Reducing Hudson Valley's Lead to One Game, The Surf Avenue Sluggers Are Heading to Lowell.


Sweep....and away!  The Coney Island Nine completed a three game sweep of the Auburn Doubledays today in a matinee game by the beach, and are now off to Lowell, Massachusetts, where they will take on the Lowell Spinners.  Monday's win also allowed the Cyclones to chip away another half-game away from Hudson Valley's McNamara Division lead.  Brooklyn brought the margin down to a single game, but the Renegades still play Monday evening.


Rainy Lara started for the Cyclones Monday and stayed strong through six full innings.  But  Brooklyn's bullpen was even stronger.  Auburn opened the game with three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs against Lara.  A six-to-three fielder's choice, plated Auburn's first and only run of the game.  Rainy Lara then proceeded to keep the Doubledays very quiet over the next five innings.  He surrendered five hits in all, and allowed one earned run.  He walked none, struck out three, and lowered his season ERA to a 2.56 mark.  Rainy Lara is now 6-1 this season.


After Rainy Lara, Brooklyn's bullpen assumed full control.  Logan Taylor, Beck Wheeler, and David Wynn were all charged with pitching an inning apiece.  The three combined to allow no hits, no walks, and struck out six batters.  David Wynn earned his first save of the season.  For the game, Cyclones pitching walked no batters and struck out a total of nine.


Brooklyn turned up the power and finally got on the scoreboard with two runs in the fourth inning.  Kevin Plawecki (3) and Stefan Sabol (4) crushed back-to-back home runs, giving the Cyclones a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.  The Brooks scored a third time in the fifth.  After Dimas Ponce was hit by a pitch leading off, he left the game for a pinch-runner.  Richie Rodriguez and Eudy Pina then followed with consecutive singles to load the bases.  Pinch runner Jeff Reynolds came home on Phillip Evans' sac-fly to center field, to give the Cyclones a 3-1 lead, and the game.


Brandon Nimmo did not play in Monday's game.  And Phillip Evans committed two errors in the field.


With Monday's victory, starting pitcher Rainy Lara is now tied for the New York Penn League lead in wins with six.  Rainy's 0.33 WHIP is also tied for fourth best in the league with his teammate, Gabriel Ynoa.  As a matter of fact, Brooklyn pitchers dominate with four of the best seven WHIPs in the circuit.  What's more, the league sports a circuit low .213 batting average against Cyclones' pitching, and their staff ERA is second only to that of the Tri Citi Valley Cats by two points.  Brooklyn also owns the league high with six combined shut-outs pitched.




Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Strengthen Hold on First Against Renegades

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Eleventh Inning Win Opens Up Two Game Lead Over Hudson Valley in McNamara Division.


In the clash for the top spot of the McNamara Division, visiting Brooklyn shut out the Renegades 3-0 in their place on Sunday to open a one game lead in the standings.  Starter Luis Mateo pitched six strong innings to pick up his third win against no loses.  He surrendered a mere three hits, walked none, and struck out six.  David Wynn followed out of the bullpen to pitch the next two frames.  He struck out three before giving way to Tyler Vanderheiden, who picked up his fourth save of the season.

Cole Frenzel launched his first home run of the season leading off the second inning.  And the Brooks picked up two more runs on an E-5 in the third inning, capping off the night's scoring.

In Monday night's game at the Ballpark at Coney Island, the Cyclones led 1-0 after three innings thanks to a Eudy Pina bomb to center field.  But they promptly surrendered two runs in Hudson Valley's next at-bat.  In the home fourth, RBI by Jayce Boyd and Brandon Nimmo put Brooklyn back on top by a 3-2 score.  Then in the fifth, the Brooks picked up an insurance run on Stefan Sabol's RBI single.

Cyclones' starter Luis Cessa, pitched 4.0 innings.  He gave up three hits and walked three, while allowing two earned runs.

The Hudson Valley Renegades rallied late against Cyclones' reliever Beck Wheeler.  With the 'Clones ahead 4-2, Hudson Valley plated three runs on a Ryan Dunn bases clearing double, giving the Renegades a 5-4 lead in the seventh.  They would add an insurance run in the eighth against Juan Urbina.

In the eighth inning, the Cyclones got one back.  Jayce Boyd led off with a triple to straight away center field, and soon scored to make it a 5-6 game heading into the ninth.

Reliever John Mincone retired the Renegades in order in the top half of the ninth.  Then for last licks, Kevin Plawecki stepped up to lead off for the Cyclones, and promptly hit a laser over the left field wall off Marcus Jensen to tie the game at six apiece.

Into extra-innings they went.  John Mincone pitched into his second frame.  And with the go ahead runner on third, Mincone struck out the last two batters of the inning.

Brandon Nimmo led of the Cyclones tenth and struck out swinging on a 3-2 fastball down the middle of the plate.  Eudy Pina drew another full count but worked out a walk.  Juan Gamboa then worked out a second consecutive walk issued by Marcus Jansen, putting the winning run in scoring position.  After a short fly to center, Phillip Evans stepped up with two outs.  He launched one high and deep to left, but not far enough.  This game was headed for an eleventh inning.

John Mincone came out for another inning of work and effectively retired Hudson Valley for a third straight time.  For his part, he allowed three hits, walked one, gave up no runs, and struck out four.

In the home eleventh, Brooklyn faced Kris Carlson now in relief for Hudson Valley.  After Kevin Plawecki was hit by a pitched ball, Cole Frenzel flared a ball over the second baseman's head to set up a first and second situation with no outs.  Stefan Sabol worked out a walk to load the bases for Jayce Boyd.  Playing in his first game as a Cyclone, he was having a hot night at the plate; batting 3 for 5 to that point.  Boyd then lined a fly to shallow right.  Pinch running for Plawecki at third, Jonathan Clark tagged up and took off for home, successfully scoring the Cyclones' winning run.

The Surf Avenue Sluggers have now opened up a two game lead over the second place Renegades.  This was Brooklyn's eleventh win over four loses.  The teams will now get on the bus and head back into Hudson Valley for the final game of this home-and-home series.




Mike.BTB

BKN Cyclones ~ Starting Pitching Continues to Shine

From the desk of:   THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

BROOKLYN CYCLONES:  Kings County is No Place For a Raccoon.  Brooks Two-Hit Their Upstate Rivals.


After taking two of three games from the Iron Birds in Aberdeen, the Seaside Sluggers returned to Coney Island and hosted the Hudson Valley Renegades.  In an early season battle for first place, three Cyclones' pitchers hand-cuffed their upstate rivals.


Making his second start of the season, Luis Mateo pitched his second consecutive abbreviated 2-hitter.  In six full innings, he walked only one, while striking out seven batters.  Mateo lowered his ERA to 0.77, and collected his second win in as many starts.


In relief, Paul Sewald was first out of the pen for Brooklyn.  He pitched two innings of hitless, scoreless ball, and struck out three batters while issuing no walks.  Sewald was credited with his first hold.  Tyler Vanderheiden came in to pitch the ninth inning.  He walked one, and struck out two, in  recording his second save.


Hudson Valley's starting pitcher, Taylor Gerrieri, gave the Brooks a 1-0 lead in the second, when he balked home Cole Frenzel from third base.  Eudy Pina drove in two more Cyclones' runs in the eighth inning, on a bases loaded single to give Brooklyn a 3-0 lead, and an eventual final.


In eight games, Cyclones' pitching has limited their opponents to a .186 batting average, and have pitched to a combined 2.66 ERA.  They lead the lead in shutouts with two, and also lead the circuit with a stellar 0.96 WHIP.


The Cyclones are now making their second pass through the starting rotation.  In eight games, Coach Donnelly has used six starters.  The rotation shapes up like this:


1) - Gabriel Ynoa
2) - Luis Mateo
3) - Luis Cessa
4) - Hansel Robles
5) - Julian Hilario
6) - Rainy Lara


As a rotation, they are averaging 5.2 innings per appearance, while only allowing 3.4 hits per game.  They have yeilded a total of seven walks.  In 44.2 innings pitched, they have amassed forty-five strikeouts.  No starter has surrendered more than two runs in a start, and combined, the rotation sports a 1.42 ERA, allowing seven runs total so far.


The Cyclones are now 6-2, and lead the McNamara Division by a full game over the Renegades.  The series shifts to Peekskill, N.Y., for Game Two, before they return to Coney Island for Game Three on Wednesday.




Mike.BTB