Staten Island 5
Cyclones 3
Aug. 21 at Staten Island
Evil Empire trooper Brandon Thomas blasted a three-run home run in the sixth to take the lead, and the Yankees’ pitching retired the final nine Cyclones’ batters to preserve the win.
The Cyclones scored all three runs in the third inning when Tomas Nido reached second on a throwing error, Anthony Chavez walked and Eris Peguero singled to load the bases with no outs. Ismael Tijerina hit an RBI sacrifice fly and Gavin Cecchini knocked another run in on a fielder’s choice. James “Papa” Roche finished the scoring with an RBI single to give the Clones a 3–1 lead.
But the Yankees retaliated with two home runs in the fourth and sixth innings. The first was a solo-shot by Mike Ford on the first pitch he saw to narrow the gap to 3–2, then Thomas hit his three-run homer over the right field wall to score Ford and Cyclone killer Yeicok Calderon, who had walked and singled.
Tijerina led off with the only Brooklyn hit in the seventh, but the Clones never got another chance to close the gap as the Yankees’ relievers retired the next nine batters in a row to take the game.
The Clones took another punch from Aberdeen, who stormed back to win at Hudson Valley to put the IronBirds a game and a half ahead of the Cyclones for first place in the division.
Brooklyn and Staten Island will meet for the final time this season tonight at MCU Park at 7 pm.
Brooklyn Cyclones at MCU Park (Surf Avenue and W. 16th Street in Coney Island, www.brooklyncyclones.com) on Aug. 22 at 7 pm.
Follow the Cyclones all season long at brooklynpaper.com/sections/sports/cyclones/