Cyclones righty Gaither Bumgardner was the tough luck loser Monday night. (Photo by Jim Mancari)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – It’s never a good sign when a baseball team has more errors than runs scored.
That was the case Monday night for the Brooklyn Cyclones (2-2), who dropped a 7-2 contest to the Staten Island Yankees at MCU Park in Coney Island – which evened the opening four-game series at two games apiece.
The Cyclones committed four errors and only managed two runs in the loss. In addition to shoddy defense, the team struck out 11 times – six looking – walked nine opposing hitters and even balked in a run. All in all, it was a game that manager Tom Gamboa hopes the team will put in its rearview mirror immediately.
“This was a typical rookie league game,” he said. “That’s all I can say about it.”
Only two of the Yankees’ seven runs were actually recorded as runs batted in – a bases-loaded walk and an RBI groundout – and only three of the seven runs were earned. The Yankees also wound up with more runs (seven) than hits (six).
Lefty Carlos Valdez, who was 2-2 with a 2.58 ERA in nine starts last season for Brooklyn, started the game and lasted four innings. He surrendered two runs but walked six batters, which ultimately led to his early exit.
“Carlos Valdez had real good stuff,” Gamboa said. “They didn’t hit him, but he was a victim of himself.”
Down 2-0, the Cyclones scored a run each in the second and third innings to tie the game. Designated hitter Tomas Nido scored on a fielder’s choice error in the second, and shortstop Amed Rosario plated left fielder Joe Tuschak – who finished 3-for-4 on the night – on a sacrifice fly in the third.
Right-hander Gaither Bumgardner relieved Valdez and pitched better than his numbers show. He gave up four runs in four innings, but they were all unearned as the Cyclones committed three errors behind him.
“I really thought Gaither Bumgardner pitched well tonight,” Gamboa said. “It’s a shame he took the loss, but he was victimized by our own defense. We shot ourselves in the foot with the three errors we made in the two innings.”
Two of those three errors were committed by right fielder Michael Bernal. He misplayed a scorching line drive that plated two runs and then bobbled a ball on a single, which allowed another run to score.
“There’s no question he (Bernal) had a tough night tonight,” Gamboa said.
Through four games, the Cyclones have now committed nine errors. The team ranked second in the New York-Penn League last year in fielding percentage, so Gamboa hopes his team’s defense will improve.
“The guys are trying,” Gamboa said. “They’re young, and they’re going to make mistakes. We hope that we can come back tomorrow and clean a lot of this stuff up in practice and play better tomorrow night.”
The Cyclones can put this tough loss behind them right away as they’ll host the Hudson Valley Renegades, the Single-A short season affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
Click here to view the complete box score of this game.
