Brooklyn Cyclones: Chance to Close Gap Swept Away

From the desk of:  THE CONEY ISLAND NINE

Renegades Sweep Series 3-0

I - HVR 6; BKC 5

II - HVR 6; BKC 5

III - HVR 5; BKC 4

Brooklyn Cyclones fall to 5.5 game behind first place Husdon Valley Renegades

Brooklyn Cyclones: Look What The Renegades Did to Coney Island, Again!

Like an old Adam West Batman episode: Ooof!  POW!  Boom!  The Brooklyn Cyclones with three victories against Hudson Valley could have landed square on the Renegades door step.  Instead they are swept up, dumped in their team basket, and pushed back down the river three games further out of first place than when they first arrived at Dutchess County.

GAME ONE
Cyclones     5
Renegades  6

Brooklyn's standout starter Jaison Vilera suffers perhaps his worst outing of the season, surrendering four earned runs on five hits and a walk, while striking out seven.  However, the Cyclones take a 5-3 lead into the bottom of the ninth.  After retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the frame, Brooklyn reliever Yeudy Colon walks his next batter.  Two hits later its a one run game.  With runners on on second and third, Colon balks home the winning run.  Cyclones fall 5.5 back of the Renegades.

GAME TWO
Cyclones     5 
Renegades  6

The Cyclones blow a 3-0 first inning lead when Somerset ties the game with three of their own in the third.  Nick Meyer's sac-fly in the top of the fourth plated center fielder Anthony Dirocie from third for a 4-3 Ducks lead.  Hudson Valley strikes back in the home seventh when shortstop Ford Proctor triples home the tying run.  But Brooklyn regains the lead in the top half of the eighth on Jose Miguel Medina's RBI double.  Unfortunately, Cyclones reliever Ryley Gilliam does not secure it, walking the lead-off batter, then yielding a two run home run to game hero Ford Proctor.

GAME THREE
Cyclones     4
Renegades  5

In a slightly different narrative, the Cyclones and Renegades remain scoreless through the first three  frames.  Brooklyn then jumps out to a 2-0 lead in the fourth on Anthony Dirocie's RBI triple, and a subsequent E-3 allowing Dirocie to score.  But their advantage didn't last long at all.  Hudson Valley work over Cyclones starter Joshua Walker for four runs on three hits and a pair of walks in seizing a 4-2 lead.  This time it is Brooklyn who mount a ninth inning comeback and tie the game with two runs on three straight hits, and E-8, and the key sac fly by first baseman Brian Sharpe.  With one out in the home ninth, Brooklyn reliever Ronald Sanchez surrenders a one-out single to Adrian Rondon, who advances to second on a wild pitch.  Hudson Valley center fielder Bryce Browne singles up the middle, game over.

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.

Brooklyn Cyclones: Thor Drops Hammer on Pizza Rats

From the desk of:  THE SURF AVENUE SLUGGERS

VERRAZZANO NARROWS 

SHOWDOWN

BATTLE OF THE BOROUGHS

Season Series Tied 4-4

SUNDAY

Yankees    1

Cyclones   2

FINAL

Brooklyn Cyclones: Thor Giveth, and Thor Taketh Away.

We all know New York City rodents aren't skittish around people anymore.  But those Pizza Rats from Staten Island may have come off just a little too damn cocky during their most recent visit to Coney Island.

I'm sure Noah Syndergaard isn't too pleased with himself, either.

Making a rehab assignment start for the Cyclones, Syndergaard issues a walk to the first batter of the game, who then disrespectfully steals second base.  With one out, a solid base hit by Staten Island backstop Josh Breaux puts runners on the corners.  Syndergaard fans the next batter, but then unleashes a wild pitch allowing Pizza Rat Alex Junior to scurry home.

After which, Thor drops his hammer.  He allows the Rats just one more hit in the fourth, and fans six through his final four innings of work.  All told, Syndergaard pitches five innings, allows one earned run on just two hits, walks one, and strikes out seven.  He faces nineteen Pizza Rats, throwing 71 pitches with 46 (65%) going for strikes.

It's a good thing too, because the Cyclones were limited to a pair of runs on just five hits by Staten Island starter Roansy Contreras and reliever Shawn Semple.

JOSE MIGUEL MEDINA IS BIG MAN ON CAMPUSS

BUT SMALL BALL WINS THE DAY

• Brooklyn ties the game at one in the third.  Third baseman Brian Sharp draws a lead-off walk, and is advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Manny Rodriguez.  Sharp then scores on Jose Miguel Medina's double to left.

The game remains locked at one through the seventh.

• Catcher Nick Meyer leads off the bottom of the eighth with a single back up the middle.  Brian Sharp's sacrifice bunt successfully moves Meyer to second base.  After Manny Rodriguez looks at strike three, Jose Miguel Medina singles home Meyer with the go-ahead run.

Reliever Kevin Smith faces ten batters pitching the final three innings for Brooklyn.  He earns his second victory of the season after limiting Staten Island to no walks, just one hit, and striking out four.

With only their second victory in their last seven games, the Cyclones snap a five game losing streak, and avoid falling below par, instead improving to 12-11 on the season.  Although they remain three games back of the Hudson Valley Renegades, Brooklyn slides back into second place past Aberdeen.

Brooklyn also evens the season series against Staten Island at four games apiece.

The Staten Island Yankee Baby Bomber Pizza Rats Baseball Club fall to 10-13 on the season.

The teams head back to Richmond County and the St. George Rat Den for Monday's series finale.