Staten Island 7, Brooklyn 1

A promising start for Brooklyn did not result in a win against Staten Island on Thursday, as the Cyclones lost 7-1 to the Yankees. After Jonathan Clark got the fans excited with a leadoff homerun, the Cyclones would go the rest of the game without scoring a run. John Gant got the start for Brooklyn and pitched well but picked up the loss. The loss ends a streak of four consecutive wins for Gant whose record now stands at 5-3. The New York Penn-League strikeout leader tossed 5.0 IP, allowed two runs on six hits, and struck out five.

Brooklyn got ahead early thanks to the leadoff homerun by Clark. Clark took the first pitch he saw deep to right field to give the Cyclones a 1-0 lead. Clark had been struggling as of late and his homerun broke a 0-for-24 drought. Clark finished 2-for-4, also reaching on a bunt single. Brooklyn had another opportunity to score in the second but failed to do so. Juan Gamboa and Eddie Rohan both reached on two-out singles giving Clark another chance to drive in a run. However, Clark grounded out to short to end the inning.

The Baby Bombers tied things up the very next inning on an RBI single by Derek Toadvine. Yankees slugger Yeicok Calderon started the inning with a double to deep right field that was close to a homerun. Calderon leads the Yankees in homeruns with eight and is tied for fourth in the NYPL. Calderon then scored on Toadvine’s two-out single to right field, tying the game at one. Calderon hit another double in the top of the fourth inning, and would go onto score on a sacrifice fly from Isaias Tejada, giving Staten Island a 2-1 lead.

The Yankees put two more across the board to add to their lead, one in each the sixth and seventh innings. Both David Wynn and Cristian Chivilli allowed one run in relief, before it was handed off to Tyler Vanderheiden. Vanderheiden was recently added to the Cyclones roster making his first appearance with the Cyclones this season, after spending a full season in Brooklyn in 2012. Vanderheiden pitched a scoreless eighth but gave up three runs in the ninth to give Staten Island a 7-1 lead.

Key Stats

Jonathan Clark: 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R

Juan Carlos Gamboa: 2-for-4

David Wynn: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 K

Cristian Chivilli: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 HR, 1 ER

John Gant: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 BB, 2 ER, 5 K

Paul Paez: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K

(Cyclones’ Team Report)