Red-Hot Cyclones catch an untimely ‘break’

NY-Penn All-Star Game Interrupts Brooklyn’s Best Run of Season

August 16, 2016 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Cyclones hope their winning ways continue following this week’s All-Star break as they pursue their first playoff berth since 2012. Eagle photo by Jeff Melnik

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Former Brooklyn Cyclones manager Rich Donnelly didn’t care very much for All-Star games, especially when they came in the midst of a hot streak for his Baby Bums.

“To tell you the truth, I’m not a big fan of All-Star Games during the season because they’re exhibition games,” Donnelly noted back in 2012, the second of his three summers guiding the Mets’ Class A short-season affiliate on Coney Island.

Current Cyclones skipper Tom Gamboa, also in his third year at the helm here, might be feeling the same way this week as his red-hot Cyclones entered the New York-Penn League’s annual late-summer All-Star break on their best run of an otherwise up-and-down campaign.

Brooklyn, which spent most of this summer at or near the bottom of the McNamara Division standings, has climbed within 3 1/2 games of first-place Hudson Valley and 2 1/2 lengths back of wild card-leading Staten Island after posting victories in six of its last seven contests.

On Sunday afternoon at MCU Park, right-hander Gabriel Llanes capped the Cyclones’ 5-1 homestand by tossing seven brilliant innings in a 2-1 victory over West Virginia in front of 4,286 fans who braved the sweltering conditions on Coney Island.

Llanes, Brooklyn’s Opening Day starter back in June, surrendered one unearned run on four hits with two strikeouts and did not issue a walk as the Cyclones bounced back from their first loss in six games, an 8-5 setback to the Black Bears on Saturday night, by plating a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.

NY-Penn All-Star shortstop Colby Woodmansee began the decisive rally with an infield single, moved to second on Brandon Brosher’s base hit to left field and eventually scored on a wild pitch uncorked by West Virginia starter Stephan Meyer (2-5).

Brooklyn went ahead for good when Brosher came streaking home on Ali Sanchez’s RBI grounder to first base later in the inning, putting the heat on Llanes and the Baby Bums’ bullpen to secure the 2-1 lead.

Llanes tossed a perfect top of the seventh before Gary Cornish and Joseph Zanghi each worked around one hit in the eighth and ninth frames, respectively, to improve the Cyclones’ record to 30-26.

Brooklyn went 0-for-8 overall with runners in scoring position during the win, but the once moribund offense has sprung to life in August following two brutal months at the plate.

The Cyclones outscored their opponents by a staggering 43-18 count during a season-high five-game winning streak, capped by Friday’s series-opening 14-7 annihilation of the Black Bears.

Center field prospect Desmond Lindsay led the assault with a franchise record-tying seven-RBI effort, finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI single, three-run double and three-run homer.

Lindsay, the Mets’ second-round pick in 2015, is hitting a blistering .347 with three homers and 11 RBIs in only 15 games with the Baby Bums.

“I’m just happy that we’re winning again,” the 19-year-old Bradenton, Florida native told MiLB.com following his epic performance Friday night, which matched Bosher’s seven-RBI game from a season ago.

“It’s pretty cool. You always want to have a big game, and it’s pretty nice to have a day like that and drive in seven runs.”

Lindsay, who sat out most of his first professional season following a severe hamstring injury suffered during his final year in high school, is hitting his stride just as the Cyclones appear poised to make a serious run at their first postseason berth in four years.

“I feel really good about my season; obviously, you always feel like you can do better, but it’s going well,” he added in the online interview.

“I just feel like after coming off that injury last year, I was out nine months; that was the longest time I’ve gone without playing baseball since I started to play. I feel more comfortable this year, it’s a good group of guys and I’m having a lot of fun learning from the guys here.”

The Cyclones have to be hoping that Lindsay’s hot hitting, and the team’s winning ways, continue following their abbreviated break.

They’ll open a critical three-game set with arch rival Staten Island Wednesday night at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

This, That and the Other Thing: Following Sunday’s win, Woodmansee, 1B Peter Alonso and RHP Harol Gonzalez were off to Hudson Valley’s Dutchess Stadium for Tuesday night’s 2016 NY-Penn All-Star Game. Gonzalez, who ranks second in the league with a 1.57 ERA, has gone 4-0 while yielding just one earned run over 35 2/3 innings in his last five starts for Brooklyn, making him a strong candidate for the circuit’s Pitcher of the Year award. Woodmansee entered the break hitting .271 with two homers and a team-high 22 RBIs, while Alonso heads to the annual late-summer classic boasting a .321 average with a team-best five homers and 21 RBIs … MCU Park will host the 17th Annual Heroes Baseball Classic on Coney Island on Aug. 26, pitting New York’s Finest (NYPD) against New York’s Bravest (FDNY) at 7 p.m. Tickets for the hotly contested event are available at the Cyclones’ ticket office and online via http://www.brooklyncyclones.com/ticketsmega/specialevents/civil_servants/.