Brooklyn Boro

Badamo shines, but Brooklyn Cyclones blow late lead

Cyclones Squander Chance to Close in on First-Place Staten Island

August 25, 2015 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Tyler Badamo did his part, tossing six strong innings Monday night, but the rest of the Cyclones did not hold up their end in a tough 4-2 loss to Hudson Valley in Coney Island that further dampened Brooklyn's playoff hopes. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Cyclones
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Having won four of their previous five games, the Brooklyn Cyclones appeared poised to make another run at the first-place Staten Island Yankees in the McNamara Division race Monday night.

But the Hudson Valley Renegades have pennant-race dreams of their own.

Despite another strong pitching performance from Tyler Badamo, the Cyclones squandered a late lead en route to a crushing 4-2 loss to the second-place Renegades in front of 4,506 fans at Cone Island’s MCU Park.

Badamo, who helped launch Brooklyn’s recent surge by tossing six innings of two-hit ball in a 3-1 victory over Lowell last week, nearly duplicated his performance Monday with the Cyclones on the verge of moving within two games of the division-leading Yankees.

The 23-year-old right-hander from Mount Sinai, N.Y., who has been dealing with a nagging groin injury over the past month, permitted one run on six hits with two strikeouts and two walks over six solid frames before turning a 2-1 lead over to the normally reliable Brooklyn bullpen.

But that advantage evaporated in the top of the seventh as Nicco Blank surrendered an RBI double to Taylor Hawkins and two-run single to Oscar Sanay, giving Hudson Valley a 4-2 advantage.

The Renegades (31-30) inched within a single game of Staten Island in the McNamara race while leaving Brooklyn (29-32) three full lengths behind after the Cyclones went down meekly in the final three frames.

Brooklyn did appear to have a ray of hope in the bottom of the ninth as pinch-hitter Jose Garcia struck out for what seemed to be the final out of the contest before reaching base on a wild pitch following the third strike.

Alfredo Reyes followed with a ground-rule double to left, putting the tying run in scoring position, before Brandon Kaupe grounded out to shortstop, ending any hopes of a Brooklyn comeback.

The Cyclones’ league-worst offense continued to come up small in crunch time, going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, while the Renegades put up three hits in six such opportunities.

Brooklyn’s lone offensive outburst of the night came in the sixth, when Jeff Diehl scored on a passed ball and Emmanuel Zabala produced a sacrifice fly to give Brooklyn its short-lived 2-1 advantage.

Still sitting dead last in the McNamara, the Cyclones are hopeful of staying within striking distance of the Yankees, especially with a regular season-ending three-game set scheduled for MCU Park in the first week of September.

But Brooklyn has to find a way to keep those games relevant by climbing over the Renegades, who were slated to host the Baby Bums at Dutchess Stadium Tuesday night, with left-hander Kevin Canelon taking the mound for Brooklyn.

The Cyclones return home to finish up the three-game commuter series with the Renegades on Wednesday.

Brooklyn with then host a three-game set against Aberdeen (30-30), which is only 1 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the McNamara.

If the Cyclones don’t manage to take care of business against the Renegades and IronBirds, their season-ending set with Staten Island will be just that and nothing more, leaving MCU Park without playoff baseball for a third consecutive summer.

This, That and the Other Thing: There will be a SIDD FINCH BOBBLEHEAD and a 30th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION at MCU Park Wednesday when the Cyclones honor the elaborate 1985 April fool’s hoax cooked up by Sports Illustrated and executed by George Plimpton and the New York Mets’ organization. As part of the evening’s festivities, the first 2,500 fans in attendance will go home with a Sidd Finch bobblehead, featuring his two loves — a baseball and a French horn. Tickets can be purchased at the MCU Park Box Office, by calling (718)507-TIXX or at BrooklynCyclones.com. … Cyclones 3B David Thompson, who led the nation with 90 RBIs during his recently completed final year at the University of Miami, has found it a little bit more difficult to be productive on the Class A short-season level. Through his first 52 games as a professional, the 21-year-old Florida native is hitting .222 with three homers and 20 RBIs, part of the reason why Brooklyn ranks dead last in the NY-Penn with a .218 team batting average. “It’s not just a little bit of a grind, it’s definitely a big grind,” the fourth-round pick in this year’s MLB Draft told MiLB.com. “It’s a long year, especially after the whole college season. I’m just trying to fight through this last month and finish strong. I’m just trying to stay positive,” added Thompson. “I’ve never struggled so much in my life as this year — but just trying to stay positive. We have a lot of good guys on the team, and the coaches are real positive people.”  

 

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