It used to be called “Inside Baseball” — the subtle strategy behind the plays — before baseball too often became a game of waiting for three-run homers.
One of the joys of the New York–Penn League, with its strong pitching and players adjusting to wooden bats, is that comparatively few home runs are hit — which heightens the importance of the seemingly small decisions that can alter the path of a ball game.
The beauty of old school inside baseball was apparent on Aug. 20 when Brooklyn traveled to Staten Island to reconnect with their cross-Narrows rivals.
The “inside baseball” started even before the game, as Cyclones manager George Greer mentioned how Staten Island’s starting pitcher, lefty Edgar Soto, affected his strategy.
“You’re concerned with the match-ups of lefty-righty,” Greer said, explaining why he started right-handed batter Jeremy Hambrice at first instead of the lefty Tim Grogan.
The minor leagues is supposed to be all about “player development,” but with the Cyclones trailing the Yankees by two games with three weeks left to play, Greer was going all-out to win.
Meanwhile, high up in the right-field stands, pitching coach Hector Berrios was meeting with his pitchers.
“We’ve lost four games in a row,” said Berrios. “There’s talk of the play-offs, and this game is televised. All those things might get the pitchers away from what has been working for them all season, so we talked about just staying with our regular approach — getting batters out early in the count.”
The game started, and Brooklyn’s Jesus Gamero became the contest’s first baserunner with a single to start the second. Jason Jacobs singled to right, sending Gamero to third as Jacobs advanced to second on an error by the Yankee right-fielder.
The Yankees played their infield back, and a mere grounder by Ivan Naccarata, the next hitter, would score a run and possibly send Jacobs to third. Instead, Naccarata struck out.
The Cyclones did score a run when Hambrice grounded to short — but Greer wasn’t satisfied.
“We could have had two runs there if Naccarata had just been able to hit a ground ball,” said the manager.
Both starters were effective. Brooklyn’s Eric Brown was keeping the ball down, inducing ground balls.
The game moved to the seventh with Brooklyn still holding a 1–0 lead.
Mitch Hilligoss led off for the Yankees, hitting a towering fly to left. Dustin Martin misjudged the ball, turning twice and failing to catch the can of corn. Hilligoss wound up on second.
Greer explained Martin’s mistake.
“He should play the ball to curve more into the gap,” said Greer. “That’s the way the ball will travel from a left-handed batter.”
Slugger Kyle Larsen was up next. With the wind blowing to right and a short right-field fence, the Cyclones had been pitching the left-handed-batting Larsen outside all game. If Larsen could pull the ball, he could send Hilligoss to third. The Cyclones pitched Larsen away, but he was still able to ground out to second to advance Hilligoss to third.
Next up was Colin Curtis. Brown obviously wanted to keep the ball down — a ground ball would keep the tying run at third — but the usually unflappable hurler got the ball a little up, and Curtis was able to hit a sac fly to score Hilligoss. The Yankees had tied the game by using two strategic outs to score a run.
The game remained 1–1 into the 10th.
Naccarata led off with a double and Grogan, who had entered the game batting for the right-handed Hambrice in the seventh, came up and was intentionally walked.
Jake Eigsti strode to the plate in a bunting situation. But on the second pitch, Eigsti did not properly square around, missed the ball entirely, and Naccarata was picked off second.
Greer pointed out Naccarata’s mistake.
“From early spring training on, we drill the players to see the ball hit the ground on a bunt before they start to the next base,” said the manager.
Brooklyn failed to score again. The Yankees would not.
In the home 10th, Kevin Smith singled against reliever German Marte — and then moved to second on a perfectly executed bunt.
After an intentional walk, a wild pitch and another intentional walk, the Yankees had the bases loaded with one away and Hilligoss at bat. The winning run would almost certainly score on a productive out. The Cyclones, hoping for a double play, pitched Hilligoss low and inside, but he slapped the ball towards a diving shortstop Luis Rivera, who had no chance to make a play.
Why did the Yankees now have a three-game divisional lead? Because they had executed the finer points of the game and the Cyclones had not.
