Yankees 5
Cyclones 4
July 19 at Staten Island
The struggling Cyclones crossed the Narrows on a listing ship — and promptly ran into a tidal wave by the name of Melky Mesa.
Mesa sent the Richmond Bank Ballpark crowd home in a fine mood when he turned on Cyclones reliever Steve Clyne’s first pitch and promptly sent it sailing deep to left for a walk-off, three-run, bottom-of-the-ninth buzz kill.
The Yankees were trailing 4–2 when the inconsistent reliever Clyne was brought in to close what could have been a momentum-changing win for the 13-17 Cyclones.
But Clyne made it tough on himself, giving up a leadoff bunt single and then a single of the normal, line-drive variety.
Clyne did induce a groundout, but then the mini-Melk man delivered big time.
Clyne got a his first blown save and first loss of the year on the same pitch.
The loss sent the Cyclones deeper into the depths of the McNamara Division, which the 20-11 Yankees lead by 3 1/2 games. Brooklyn is seven games back.
The homer undid a lot of great work by a the Cyclones, who again seem to have their bats back in action. The nine-hit attack featured a 2-for-4 night from Josh Satin (1 RBI) and Jordan Abruzzo (who knocked in two in the sixth with his first homer of the year).
Starter Brad Holt (1–1) was effective, scattering four hits, including a solo homer in the first. He lowered his ERA to 1.91.
The Cyclones returned home for a Sunday night rematch with their hated cross-Narrows rivals, this time at Keyspan Park before heading back to The Rock for a Monday night game. As all Cyclone fans know, head to BrooklynPaper.com for all the action.
Tigers 7
Cyclones 5
July 18 at Oneonta
This one was over before it really got started. The Tigers scored five runs in the home first, sending starter Scott Shaw to the showers before he could even get all three outs. The big blows were a lead-off homer, a bases-loaded walk and a three-run triple — and Shaw’s night was done.
Reliever Matias Carillo gave up two more in the bottom of the second, and the Cyclones were down 7–1. The team clawed back, thanks to a Kirk Nieuwenhuis bases-loaded ground out in the fifth, and a John Servidio triple in the sixth. And a couple of errors by the Tigers in the eighth allowed the Clones to make it look closer than it was.
Kirk Nieuwenhuis also hit his first homer of the year.
