@ Staten Island Yankees 1, Brooklyn Cyclones 0

The Yankees eliminated the Cyclones two games to one in the NYP Playoffs.

Carlos Vazquez had a very, very nice start 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K, but the Cyclones were held to four hits in the loss.

Brooklyn Cyclones 12, @ Staten Island Yankees 5

The Brooklyn Cyclones offense pounded out 12 runs and 16 hits to push their NYPL semifinals series against cross-borough rival Staten Island to a decisive Game 3.

The Cyclones scored at least one run in innings 2 through 8.  Charley Thurber (3-6, 3 runs, HR, 2 RBI) and Richard Lucas (2-4, 4 runs, HR, 2RBI) each launched 2-run home runs for the Cyclones.

Thurber’s home run was his first as a professional.  He did not hit a home run in 221 regular season at-bats.

Thurber (pictured) on his HR (via MiLB.com):

It definitely felt good. I was trying to have a normal approach, just drive it. He left one over the plate. It was a pretty cool feeling to hit my first.

Brian Harrison (4-5, 2 2B, 3RBI) also helped the Cyclones cause with four hits and 3 rbi.

Jeffrey Walters struggled: 4 1/3 IP, 8 hits, 5 runs, 4 er, bb, 2k.

Rafael Montero, Tyler Pill, and Jeremy Gould pitched a combined 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Cyclones.

The Cyclones and Yankees will square off in a decisive Game 3 Saturday night at 7:05 PM @Staten Island.  LHP Carlos Vazquez (4-2, 3.61) will make the start for Brooklyn and will be opposed by RHP William Oliver (5-2, 3.42) for Staten Island.

Staten Island Yankees 2, @ Brooklyn Cyclones 0

It is difficult to win a game with just two hits, but it is impossible, as the Cyclones discovered on Thursday, night to win a game without scoring.

Brooklyn squandered a terrific start by Marcos Camarena on his 21st birthday: 6 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K.  The nine strikeouts were more than Camarena recorded in any of his 13 regular season starts.

The Cyclones face elimination on Friday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 pm from Staten Island’s Richmond County Ballpark.

Friday: @ Brooklyn Cyclones 4, Staten Island Yankees 0
Saturday: Brooklyn Cyclones 11, @ Staten Island Yankees 4
Sunday: @ Brooklyn Cyclones 7, Staten Island Yankees 4
- The Cyclones are heading back to the playoffs for the third straight year, in search of their first New York-Penn League title since 2001.  The Cyclones will begin their playoff run at home Tuesday against the Staten Island Yankees.

- Domingo Tapia was dominant on the hill in Friday’s clincher: 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K.   It was the first time sine his first start of the year, on June 22 against Johnson City in the Appalachian League, that he struck out as many batters as innings pitched and fanned three times as many as he walked. After struggling early in the Appalachian League season, Tapia put together a 3-1 August with a 1.13 ERA in which he allowed just 17 hits in 24 innings, walking nine and fanning 15.

- Philip Evans played shortstop Saturday and Sunday, going a combined 1-for-8.

- Danny Muno finished the NYP season with a .355/.466/.514, tops in the League in batting average and on-base percentage and third in slugging percentage and tied for the league lead in doubles (23).  It’s actually the second year in a row that a Cyclone has won the NYP batting title –  Darrell Ceciliani hit .351/.410/.531 in 2010.

- Also, for the second year in a row, a Brooklyn outfielder led the circuit in slugging.  Lat year it was Cory Vaughn (.557).  This year, it was Travis Taijeron with an identical .557 on the strength of nine homers, 13 doubles and five triples.

- After packing in 9,005 fans on Sunday, the Cyclones finished with an average attendance of 7,002 per game – that’s second in the system, trailing only the AAA Buffalo Bisons, who were seventh in the International League with a 7,784 average attendance per game.  The AA B-Mets, last in the 12-team Eastern League averaged 3,183.

Brooklyn Cyclones 4, @ Lowell Spinners 1

The Brooklyn Cyclones maintained their slim Wild Card lead as they defeated the Lowell Spinners 4-1.  The Cyclones (41-29) have a .003 percentage point lead over the Williamsport Crosscutters (42-30), with four games remaining.

Jeffrey Walters provided the Cyclones with five solid innings: 5 IP, 3 hits, 1 er, bb, 5 k.

Orlando Tovar and T.J. Chism combined to pitch four innings of scoreless relief.

Danny Muno (3-4, 2B, SB) and Richard Lucas (3-5, 2 2B, 2RBI) led the Cyclones offense with three hits a piece.

Muno continues to lead the NYPL with a .453 OBP.

SSA: Brooklyn Cyclones 7, @ Tri-City Valley Cats 4

With the win, the Cyclones move into a tie for the wild card lead.
Hey, guess who keeps hitting? SS Danny Muno, who was 2-4 with a double and a walk is up to: .333/.437/.492. He did commit a pair of errors and is now up to 11 in 50 games as a Cyclone.
CF Tillman Pugh, who began the season with Kingsport had a big night, going 3-4 with a triple, two RBI and two stolen bases. The Mets drafted Pugh, who’s now 22, in the 15th round last year out of Sonoma State. He played football and baseball in high school at the San Francisco Bay Area powerhouse La Salle.

Also, yes, that’s 24-year old Nick Carr, who has pitched in full-season ball since 2008, and in the Arizona Fall League last year, closing out the game for the Cyclones.

R- Kingsport Mets 9, Pulaski Rangers 2

Pick your own hitting star, but I’m more interesting in Akeel Morris (3-2, 3.86): 5 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 BB (!), 5 K, 1 HR.

He’s third in the Appy League in strikeouts (61) and leads the circuit in walks (38) while giving up just 30 hits in 51.1 innings pitched. That’s interesting.

No GCL game Thursday.

SSA: @ Tri-City Valley Cats 7, Brooklyn Cyclones 4

This was a gut-wrenching defeat for the Cyclones, who rallied from down 2-0 to take a 4-2 lead in the seventh and then watched the bullpen give up a go-ahead grand slam in the bottom of the eighth.

2011 39th rounder Charlie Thurber had a perfect night, going 3-3 with a double, two walks, a run and an RBI, reaching base in all five plate appearances.

R – App: @ Kingsport Mets 9, Danville Braves 4

One thing stands out: Domingo Tapia (5-5, 3.78) 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K.  Since a 0.2 inning implosion at the end of July, Tapia has been lights out in August: 3-1, 1.13 ERA, 24 H, 17 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 9 BB, 15 K with a go/ao of 2.06.

R- GCL: GCL Nationals 13, GCL Mets 2

Hey, look CF Brandon Nimmo hit his first professional home run and drew his first walk, going 1-3 with a bomb and a walk.
In his second professional game, SS Philip Evans was 2-for-4 with a double.