The road to the NY-Penn League Championship will go through Brooklyn.
A foggy night in Brooklyn delayed Game 2 of the NY-Penn League Playoff series between the Brooklyn Cyclones and Staten Island almost 3 hours in total and drove the game into the wee small hours of the morning. But in the end, Brooklyn completed their sweep of their closest rival, winning 3-1.
When the game finally started, Brooklyn sent their ace Dylan Owen to the mound, and Owen lived up to that title. Owen, who was 3-0 with a 2.08 ERA against Staten Island this season, continued his mastery of the Yankees, going five innings, and giving up only 4 hits while striking out seven in a scoreless effort.
"When you're able to keep the main guys off base, its easier to go with the game," Owen told milb.com. "We kept pressure on them and I believe that helped us out tonight."
Meanwhile, the Yankees sent rehabbing starter Darrell Rasner to the hill to tame the Brooklyn offense. Rasner, recovering from a fractured right index finger, seemed at times to struggle with his control, as he hit SS Matt Bouchard in the back of the helmet to open the third inning. Bouchard would leave the game under his own power and was taken to the hospital for tests. CF Raul Reyes (.571 average in the series) kept up his hot hitting in the series and doubled home Jake Eigsti, who replaced Bouchard on the bases. After a sacrifice bunt by C Cesar Cordido, LF Ezequiel Carrera singled to right to score Reyes to give Brooklyn a 2-0 lead.
Brooklyn would increase their lead in the bottom of the sixth off of reliever Nick Chigges when Game 1 hero Lucas Duda’s RBI single scored 2B Micah Shilling.
Whenever it seemed like Staten Island would try to mount a comeback, Brooklyn bullpen was there to shut the door, as Brant Rustich and Edgar Ramirez kept the Baby Bombers off of the board. Closer Eddie Kunz gave the sparse crowd that stayed all night through the weather a bit of a scare when CF Austin Krum reached on a Micah Shilling throwing error, and after DH Chris Raber’s single put two men on base, LF D.J. Hollingsworth’s sacrifice fly cut the lead to two. But Kunz dug in and got the next two batters to secure the win and a spot in the NY-Penn League Championship.
FERRY SERIES NOTES: This series marks the first time that Staten Island has been eliminated from the playoffs upon making the post-season since 2001, when the Brooklyn Cyclones knocked them out in 3 games en route to splitting the NY-Penn League Championship… DH Ramon Castro, in his second rehab assignment went 0-for-2, grounding into a double play and striking out to Darrell Rasner… Before Matt Bouchard left the game, he made a sparkling diving catch in the 2nd inning, robbing Braedyn Pruitt of a hit, much the same way that Yankee SS Justin Snyder did the previous evening… Brooklyn now awaits the winner of the Auburn Doubledays-Oneonta Tigers series, which Auburn deadlocked at 1-1 last night. Game 1 of the NYPL Championship will take place Thursday at either Auburn or Oneonta, and Game 2 will be at Keyspan Park on Friday as will game 3, if necessary.
