YGY SI Yankees Recap: Baby Bombers Score 14 Runs In First Game After All-Star Break In Win Over Cyclones
By Ricky Keeler
In their first game back after the two-day All-Star break, the Staten Island Yankees (32-31) were able to put up their highest run total of the season in a 14-4 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones (35-29). It was an error-filled game with ten combined errors from both teams, six coming from the visiting Cyclones. Staten Island would bat around in the fourth and fifth inning, scoring 12 runs over that span to get the win. With the victory, the Baby Bombers are now 2.5 games behind the Brooklyn Cyclones for the Wild Card with 12 games remaining in the season.
"“We hit some balls hard. We did a nice job of taking advantage of some of those mistakes,” said manager Mario Garza. “When you get another opportunity, you make them pay for it and we did a pretty good job at that.”"
Even though Staten Island scored the bulk of the runs, it was Brooklyn who got on the board in the top of the second inning. Against Staten Island starting pitcher Sean Carley (1-3, 6.88), Brooklyn’s second baseman, Tyler Moore, hit a two-run homer to right center field. It was Moore’s first homer of the season that gave the Cyclones a 2-0 lead. Carley would throw two innings, giving up one earned run (two runs) on three hits, no walks, and four strikeouts.
The third inning is when the Staten Island offense got going against Brooklyn starter, Scarlyn Reyes (2-3, 2.57), with some help from the Cyclones’ defense. After a Nathan Mikolas walk and Jose Javier single, All-Star catcher Luis Torrens would hit a bloop double to right field to score Mikolas and make it 2-1. Fellow All-Star Ty McFarland would follow with a RBI single to center that scored Javier to tie the game at two.
In the following inning, the Baby Bombers would score seven runs and send 11 batters to the plate. With Austin Aune at second and Christopher Breen on first, shortstop Vicente Conde would single to left field, scoring Aune and making the lead 3-2. Two batters later, with Mike Hepple in the game for Brookyln, Jose Javier would score a run off an error by the Cyclones’ second baseman, Michael Bernal to make it 4-2. The score would end up being 9-2 after the inning on an RBI single from Torrens, a two-run double by McFarland, and a RBI double by Isaias Tejeda (All-Star).
The scoring did not end there. In the bottom of the fifth inning, against pitcher Luis Rengel and Brandon Welch, the team would score five more runs and bring ten hitters to the plate. After Torrens reached on an error and scored a run to make it 10-2, McFarland would drive in his fourth run of the night to make it 11-2. Then, Aune would hit a two-run single to center field to make it 13-2. Once Welch came in, he threw a wild pitch to Breen that allowed a run to score and make it 14-2.
After Carley came out, the Yankees only needed two pitchers to finish the final seven innings. Jordan Cote (3-3, 6.14) would improve his record to 3-3 on the year by throwing four innings of one-run ball, giving up five hits, walking two and striking out four batters. The only run he gave up came in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Adrian Abreu.
Then, it was Sam Agnew-Weiland’s turn. Agnew-Weiland came in for the final three innings and was dominant, giving up one run (no earned runs) on three hits and striking out a season-high six strikeouts in his first save of the season. He now has 11 combined strikeouts in his last two games.
With the blowout, it allowed Staten Island to only play Torrens, McFarland, and Aune, the Baby Bombers were able to get Billy Flemming into his first game at third base. Flemming struck out in his only at-bat and made two errors on one play during the game.
The stars of the night were third baseman Ty McFarland, who went 3-for-4 with three RBI’s and Luis Torrens, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI’s. With the three RBI’s last night, McFarland now leads the Staten Island Yankees in RBI’s with 37. Five players had two hits in the win, with every player in the starting lineup reached base. Cote got the win with Reyes taking the loss to drop to 2-3 on the year.
The two teams will end their two-game series tonight at 7:05 PM in Brooklyn. Matt Borens (2-1, 5.20) will get the start against Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is making a rehab start in Brooklyn.