Staten Island 1
Cyclones 0
July 16 at MCU Park
The light-hitting Cyclones fell into a tie for first place in the McNamara Division after a the shut out by the hated Staten Island Yankess.
The Clones, who have relied on stellar pitching all season long to keep the squad atop the division, have now lost four in a row during a stretch where hitters have knocked in just five runs — leaving manager Tom Gamboa beside himself.
“You just wonder if anybody’s ever going to get a hit, let alone put two together in an inning where you can have a chance to score,” Gamboa said after the game.
The skipper pointed out that right-fielder and number-three hitter Michael Bernal, who is one for his last 29, is again showing a lack of discipline at the plate.
“There’s another case of a guy that’s swinging at everything,” he said. “To my recollection, I don’t think Bernal has driven in a run [this month] and we’re 16 days into July, and he’s playing everyday.”
But Bernal isn’t the only culprit. The skipper added that David Thompson, the power-hitting third baseman who slammed 19 homers this year for the Miami Hurricanes, also needs to stop swinging at balls.
“The power he showed at Miami, we’re not seeing it because he’s generally not patient enough to get a good pitch to hit,” Gamboa said.
Yankees starter Kolton Mahoney, who picked up the win with six scoreless innings, set the tone by striking out the side in the first inning.
Brooklyn had runners on the corner with one out in the second, but Pedro Perez struck out and Oswald Caraballo grounded out.
The Cyclones would only have four base runners from the third through eighth innings.
For the second day in a row, Jeff Hendrix robbed Bernal of a hit and possible run batted in. In the sixth, with Vinny Siena on first and one out, Bernal drove a pitch into the gap which Hendrix chased down, making a sliding catch.
With two outs in the ninth, David Thompson and Jeff Diehl singled. Perez lined a pitch to third which was taken on a hop by Wagner who tagged Thompson out to end the game.
Matt Blackham was the tough-luck loser, giving up one run and striking out 10 in six innings. Ruben Reyes and Christian Montgomery combined for three innings of scoreless relief.
Brooklyn’s team batting average is a league-worst .220, while the next worst team is at .237.
Siena leads the team with a .344 average while Thompson is second but 90 points lower than Siena.
Brooklyn is back in action at Staten Island at 7 pm.
