Staten Island Yankees 12
Cyclones 2
Aug. 26 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark
The loathed Staten Island Yankees demolished the Clones to take two out of three against Brooklyn’s boys of summer in a matchup on the Rock.
The Baby Bombers broke the game open in the first, after the Cyclones went in order. Brooklyn starter Julian Hilario gave up a leadoff double to shortstop Claudio Custodio — followed by another double to designated hitter Fu-Lin Kuo, sending Custodio home. Catcher Peter O’Brien reached base on a grounder that grazed Hilario, leaving runners on the corners with no outs. A fielding error by shortstop Phillip Evans allowed Staten Island center fielder Ravel Santana get on and let Kuo score. Staten Island first baseman Gregory Bird then smacked a liner to right to drive in O’Brien and Santana, though Bird got nailed trying for a triple. Third baseman Matthew Duran and second baseman Jose Rosario hit back-to-back doubles off Hilario, putting the Yanks up 5–0 — and the carnage wasn’t done yet. Hilario went on to surrender back-to-back singles to left fielder Daniel Lopez and right fielder Danny Oh, tacking another run on the board and bringing the top of the order up again. That’s when Cyclones skipper Rich Donnelly called for reliever Timothy Peterson, who gave up another run before bringing the inning to a close.
Staten padded the lead in the second, as Bird crushed a solo homer to center. The Yanks added two more runs in their fourth turn after Peterson gave up a single to O’Brien and then another single to Santana, and committed an error by throwing the ball past first baseman Jayce Boyd to allow O’Brien to score and Santana to take second. Bird then hit a single to send Santana home.
The only thing that saved the Cyclones from a shutout was a two-run blast off the bat of center fielder Brandon Nimmo in the fifth, extending the top prospect’s hitting streak to seven games and leaving him with 36 RBIs for the season — the most on the team and the fifth most in the NY–Penn League.
The Yanks drove in two more in the seventh, cementing a blowout victory that left the Clones seven games behind the division-leading Hudson Valley Renegades with 10 games left in the season. Brooklyn now clings to a two-game lead over the Batavia Muckdogs in the wild card race. Staten Island has already been eliminated from playoff contention.
The Cyclones are home again at MCU Park [1904 Surf Ave. at W. 17th Street in Coney Island, (718) 449–8497, www.brooklyncyclones.com] on Aug. 30 at 7 pm as they take on the Hudson Valley Renegades.
Reach reporter Eli Rosenberg at erosenberg@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2531. And follow him at twitter.com/emrosenberg.
