Cyclones sweep Yankees to hover at .500
The second game of Monday’s July 25 doubleheader with Staten Island was an important milestone for 19-19 Brooklyn, as the Cyclones finally reached .500 at the mid-season mark to go into third place with a 3-2 win over the Staten Island Yankees as part of a three-game home sweep.
The Cyclones win dropped the Yankees out of first into second place in the four-team McNamara Division, while the Hudson Valley Renegades helped themselves to first place with their recent winning streak. The win also allowed the Cyclones finally to get out of the division’s basement to reach third place, sending the Aberdeen Ironbirds to fourth place.
The Cyclones sweep was punctuated by a 3-0 win on Thomas Szapucki’s debut where the Kingsport call-up threw 5.1 scoreless innings with eight strikeouts to record his first win. For their second win, another surging pitcher, Erik Manoah, led Brooklyn to a 2-1 win as the Cyclones’ top pitcher improved to a 4-1 record allowing only one run over six innings.