Either they’re really bad, or the Cyclones are really good.
The Brooklyns ended their first week of play with a three-game sweep of the cross-Narrows rival Staten Island Yankees, taking Sunday’s game on Staten Island 4-3, Monday’s home opener 7-4, and Tuesday’s contest on Staten Island 5-3.
After beating the Baby Bombers in Sunday’s rain-soaked pairing thanks to a Seth Pietsh home run, the Cyclones were fortunate enough to open up Keyspan Park for the summer with a summer-like evening Monday night.
With Mayor Mike Bloomberg on hand to throw out the first pitch to Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Clones put on a great show for the Brooklyn faithful, along with former (and original) Met Ed Kranepool and a slew of youth-thinking Mets executives, including Fred Wilpon and new General Manager Jim Duquette.
Right-hander Bob Keppel, who pitched five perfect innings for Brooklyn in Aberdeen last week, lost any hope of remaining perfect with the Cyclones when the first pitch he threw was grounded back through the box for a base hit by Melky Cabrera. But the pitcher, who started the season in double-A Binghamton and is working his way back from a right forearm strain, quickly settled down, inducing Alexander Santa to ground into a double play before getting Hector Zamora to ground to short.
Keppel went on to throw six innings of one-run ball, striking out three in the process.
The Cyclones offense, meanwhile, wasn’t faring so well until the third when shoddy Yankee defense turned a 1-0 lead into a 3-1 deficit. Singles by Ian Bladergroen and by Stacy Bennett with two outs, drove in two of the Brooklyn runs after three men reached by way of the misplay.
The Clones tacked on three more runs in the seventh and added a single run in the eighth to ensure that the crowd of 8,539 went home happy.
Tuesday night put the Clones back on Staten Island where lead-off hitter and center fielder Rashad Parker went 4-for-4 with a double, three singles, two runs scored and two RBIs.
Parker played a part in four of the Clones’ five runs, doubling and scoring on a David Reaver single in the first, singling in Jesus Linares before scoring in the third, and driving in Corey Coles in the eighth.
Starting pitcher Tanner Osberg threw well enough to earn a no-decision, giving up three runs over six innings, and leaving with the score tied. He did, however, breeze through the second through fifth innings, giving up just two hits during that span.
Tim Worthington and Javier Ochoa pitched one scoreless inning apiece before Robert Paulk closed things out in the ninth for the save. Ochoa was credited with the win.
The victories put the Cyclones at 5-1 on the season. The Yankees, meanwhile, fell to 1-6.
Ups and downs
The Cyclones took Thursday’s game in Aberdeen 6-0. Games scheduled for Friday and Saturday against the New Jersey Cardinals were rained out.
Good call?
Staten Island Yankees catcher Luis Robles seemed shocked Monday night after being plowed down during a play at home plate, and it wasn’t because he took a nasty blow to the head when he was knocked down by Cyclone Derran Watts.
The ball clearly beat Watts to home, but the umpire ruled that Robles bobbled the ball after impact. He immediately made an emphatic safe sign.
This upset not only Robles, but former New York Yankee sparkplug and present Staten Island Yankees manager Andy Stankiewicz, who raced out to argue the call.
While he was doing so, we checked the replay, which did, in fact, show that Robles bobbled the ball. Still, the umpire’s call seemed a bit premature, as Watts never seemed to touch home plate, instead flying head-first over it as he tackled the catcher. The umpire should have waited for another tag by the catcher, or for Watts to touch the plate before making the safe call.
‘No doubles’
Everyone knows that, due to an ever-present ocean breeze, it’s virtually impossible to hit a ball over Keyspan Park’s right field fence, but that doesn’t mean you can’t hit it to the warning track.
That’s what happened Monday night when, in the ninth inning, with the Clones up by three and two runners on, lead-off hitter Melky Cabrera stepped to the plate.
With one swing of the bat, the Brooklyn faithful held their collective breath as the both wind and right fielder Seth Pietsch, who was playing a bit shallow, tried to keep the ball in the park.
As usual, the wind prevailed, and Pietsch spun around just in time — after charging as fast as he could to the warning track — to make the catch, ending the threat and the game.
“Had it all the way,” said Pietsch, who hit an opposite-field, two-run homer to right Sunday on Staten Island, where the winds are a bit more forgiving.
“He better have had it all the way. I just put the sign up for no doubles,” said Cyclones manager Tim Teufel, waving his hand over his head to demonstrate. “We’ll be talking about that with him later.”
Notably, Pietsch was the designated hitter the following night in Staten Island.
A bat, man
Over the past few years on Staten Island, a group of wild turkeys have found a home on a field near Midland Beach, and at least one deer made its home on the West Shore, where a senior citizen there admitted to feeding it a few meals.
Add to that the numerous raccoons and opossums that call the island home, and you wouldn’t think the site of a winged mammal would shock people.
Still, a live bat flew by the press box late Tuesday night, inspiring the following conversation:
Me: Wow! That’s a bat flying by there.
Official Scorer: Yeah, you’re right, that is a bat.
Me: That would suck if it got in here.
Official Scorer: No it wouldn’t. It’s not a vampire bat.
Well, I embellished a little. But here’s hoping the little critters are simply helping control the mosquito population, which is probably the case. At last check, no Cyclone or Staten Island Yankee comes from Transylvania.
Willie’s Kid
Former Yankees second baseman and present third base coach Willie Randolph’s son, Andre, started as DH on Tuesday for the Yanks.
Batting last, the 5-foot-6, lefty-hitting Randolph got his first professional hit with a single to right in the seventh.
June 30, 2003 issue
