But for the Brooklyn Cyclones, making the playoffs has basically been a perennial feat.

However, the 2013 summer short season ended without a postseason berth for the Cyclones for just the fourth time in the team’s 13-year existence.

It is important to note though that the team has now finished at or above .500 (38-37) in all 13 of its seasons, making the Cyclones one of only four teams in affiliated baseball – the Arizona League Giants, the Elizabethton Twins and the New York Yankees – to never finish below .500 since 2001.

Right from the start of the summer, it seemed the Cyclones just couldn’t find their rhythm. Though it’s by no means an excuse, the weather certainly didn’t cooperate at MCU Park in Coney Island the first few weeks.

Almost every home game, the Cyclones were forced to wait out one or even two rain delays. And in games where there were no weather delays, Brooklyn wound up playing a number of extra-inning games, including a marathon 16-inning game.

Manager Rich Donnelly continuously said, “That’s baseball, there is no clock,” in response to questions about how to deal with the delays and extra-inning games. But he did say that the start of this season was the strangest given the circumstances in all his years in professional baseball.

Despite not getting off to a great start, the Cyclones began picking up their game and were in the playoff hunt right until the end of the season. That’s all you can ask of a young team finding their way.

Mets’ great Lee Mazzilli’s son, second baseman L.J. Mazzilli, led the Cyclones with a .278 batting average. He sat above .300 for most of the summer, but a hand injury late in the season caused him to cool off down the stretch. He also led the team in RBI with 34.

Mets’ 2012 first-round draft pick, shortstop Gavin Cecchini, had a solid all-around season. His bat was a bit cool to start the year, but once he returned from a high ankle sprain, he was red hot offensively. He rattled off a 16-game hitting streak and began spraying line drives all over the field. He finished the year hitting .273.

But for Cecchini, his strength is his defense, and he showed that this summer. He has a great arm and gets to a lot of balls with his range. His glove can carry him to the next level, but he’ll have to maintain a steady bat.

After an extremely cold start, right fielder James Roche rebounded to take some strides offensively. He led the team with five home runs and displayed good power to the gaps. But he must cut down on his strikeouts to be considered a legitimate prospect.

While the Cyclones’ offense was streaky, the pitching really held its own this summer. Starting pitchers Miller Diaz (2.03), Rob Gsellman (2.06), Carlos Valdez (2.58) and John Gant (2.89) all recorded an ERA under 3.00. Diaz, Gsellman and Gant were each named to the All-Star team.

Diaz led the staff with seven wins and 87 strikeouts. He sometimes had trouble putting batters away, which led to some high pitch counts, but the talent is there.

Gsellman seemed to be the hard luck pitcher on the staff, as he barely received any run support. But he still pitched well enough to be able to make an impact at the next level next season.

Akeel Morris, who struggled in extended spring training, really impressed the Mets’ brass, so much so that Jeff Wilpon ventured to MCU Park to check him out. With a fastball sitting in the low-to-mid 90s, Morris could have a future as a big-league reliever.

It seems he still considers himself as a starter, but he thrived in a long-relief role this summer. He finished 4-1 with a 1.00 ERA.

Other relievers John Mincone and Johnny Magliozzi found success in the closer’s role. Mincone was named an All-Star after posting a 1.47 ERA and six saves, but a lower back injury ended his season early. Magliozzi stepped right in and saved nine games with a 1.17 ERA.

Though the Cyclones’ season did not continue deeper into September, the team still accomplished what it set out to do at the beginning of the season: provide an entertaining quality of baseball to an area of Brooklyn that was hit hard last fall during Hurricane Sandy.

The “Meaningful Mondays,” in which a portion of each ticket sold went to local charities aiding in Sandy recovery, were a nice touch to help the surrounding communities still in need from the superstorm.

For the 13th consecutive season, the Cyclones led the New York-Penn League in attendance.

It was a fun summer at Coney Island, and we’ll hopefully be seeing some of these faces at Citi Field in the near future – especially some of the talented young pitchers to go along with the already-talented crop of pitchers the Mets are developing.

The post Brooklyn Cyclones Season Recap appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brooklyn, N.Y. – September 1, 2013 – What Sunday night’s game lacked in runs early, it made up for late as all nine runs scored came from the seventh inning on as Aberdeen held on for a 5-4 victory over the Cyclones at MCU Park.  Brooklyn rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth, but the come back fell just short.  Tonight marked the first time in 30 games that the Cyclones led after seven innings and did not win.

LHP Dario Alvarez, a minor league free agent who spent the last three seasons out of affiliated baseball, took the mound for Brooklyn opposite Baltimore’s first round selection in the 2013 Draft, Hunter Harvey, and matched him pitch for pitch. The southpaw tossed 5.2 innings shutout innings, scattering four hits and three walks, while striking out six. Alvarez worked his way out of trouble in the top of the first, but cruised along nicely until his final inning of work. A pair of walks and a single loaded the bases for the IronBirds with two outs, forcing Alvarez to hand the ball over to the bullpen.Tyler Vanderheiden made quick work of Frederico Castagini, who grounded out weakly to first base to end the threat.

Hunter Harvey was just as impressive on the mound for Abereen, as the 22nd overall pick in the 2013 Draft allowed just one hit and a walk while striking out five over his 4.1 innings before being removed due to pitch count restrictions.

The scoreless tie extended into the seventh inning, when Jared King started the excitement with an acrobatic catch down the left field line, leaping into the visitor’s bullpen for the final out of the frame. The catch seemed to awaken the anxious crowd as well as the Brooklyn bats, because in the bottom of the frame Brooklyn would finally break the scoreless tie. Gavin Cecchini singled to start the frame and King worked a one-out walk to put a pair aboard for James Roche. Roche hit a grounder down to third base that Tanner Rust fielded and stepped on third to record the first out, but Roche hustled down the line to beat out the relay throw for what would have been an inning ending double play. Roche’s hustle would be rewarded, as Alex Sanchez took advantage of the scoring chance by lining a single up the middle that chased home Jared King to give Brooklyn a 1-0 edge.

The lead was short-lived however because in the Aberdeen’s next turn at bat, they would draw even. Jeff Kemp was hit by a pitch to start the frame, and was later thrown out attempting to steal for the second out of the inning. The caught stealing would prove to be significant, because just a few pitches later Conor Bierfeldt connected on his 12th home run of the season to knot the score at 1-1.

After Brooklyn appeared to have the makings of a rally in the bottom of the frame, after Colton Plaia walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch, Aberdeen hurler Janser Severino struck out to side to quell the uprising.

In the ninth, Brooklyn wouldn’t be as lucky, as the IronBirds scored three times to take control of the game. A single and a walk started the frame and Brooklyn reliever Paul Paez quickly found himself in a jam. Tanner Rust then laid down a sacrifice bunt that Paez fielded and threw to third in hopes of retiring the lead runner, but Frederico Castagnini slid in safely to load the bases. After George Barber was retired on an infield fly, Mike Yastrzemski connected on the decisive blow. The grandson of the former Red Sox great, Carl Yastrzemski ripped a bases-clearing double off the left field wall, scoring three and giving Aberdeen the 4-1 advantage. Yastrzemski would come around to score later in the frame thanks to a throwing error from Colton Plaia, to make the final score 5-1.

That tack on run would prove important because the Cyclones clawed their way back in the bottom of the frame.  L.J. Mazzilli and Jared King connected on back-to-back singles to start the frame, and James Roche reached on a throwing error which allowed Mazzilli to score and put a pair of runners in scoring position with nobody out.  Alex Sanchez followed with his second RBI of the game, by way of a run scoring ground out, and Tomas Nido singled to plate King and make it 5-4.  But Brooklyn wouldn’t get any closer as Colton Plaia popped out to second base and Anthony Chavez lined out to right to end the game.

The Cyclones will head to Tri-City for a three-game set to end the regular season with faint hopes of making the playoffs. The Cyclones must win at least two games, and hope that the Lowell Spinners sweep the IronBirds.

The post Cyclones Comeback Falls Just Short appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

But based on the past few games, his team has been filthy rich.

The Cyclones pounded out 15 hits in an 8-1 victory Monday night at MCU Park over the Tri-City Valleycats, the Single-A short season affiliate of the Houston Astros.

“It’s baseball,” said Donnelly, slightly perplexed about where his team’s recent offensive surge has come from. “I’m trying to figure it out. It’s one day to the next. All of a sudden, they’ve start hitting. I just watch.”

Brooklyn has now won four straight games and has scored 32 runs during that stretch.

It was Daniel Murphy bobblehead night in Coney Island, and while he went 0-for-4 for the big club, the Cyclones broke the game open early – picking up right where they left off Sunday when they scored a season-high 12 runs in a win over the Vermont Lake Monsters.

An RBI double by left fielder Jared King in the bottom of the first inning opened the scoring, and designated hitter Alex Sanchez followed with a sacrifice fly.

The Cyclones batted around in the bottom of the second, plating five runs. Shortstop Gavin Cecchini and second baseman L.J. Mazzilli each laced RBI singles, and right fielder James Roche had the big blow in the inning with a two-run triple to straight away center field.

Roche has now hit safely in 13 of his last 14 games. He’s batting 18-for-47 (.383) over that stretch and has raised his batting average from .221 to .259.

“Things are starting to come together towards the end of the year,” Roche said. “I’m just trying to put together quality at-bats every single at-bat.”

Left-handed Dario Alvarez improved to 2-4 on the season after pitching five innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts to pick up the win. The only run he allowed was on a wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning.

Every Cyclones’ starter except catcher Colton Plaia recorded at least one base hit. Center fielder and leadoff man Jonathan Clark reached base three times and scored two runs.

Clark was hitless in his first 14 Cyclones’ at-bats and then went on an eight-game hitting streak, batting 11-for-33 during that stretch. He went cold again with an 0-for-24 stretch, but now he’s seven for his last 20 with eight runs scored in his last five games.

“If I just learn how to relax and do what I’m supposed to do, which is get on base, then it makes the game a lot easier,” Clark said. “The more I get on base, the more runs we get.”

Brooklyn remains in second place in the McNamara Division just a half game behind the first-place Aberdeen Ironbirds, who earned an extra-inning 8-3 win Monday night.

The season has only two weeks left, and the Cyclones seem to be clicking at just the right time.

“We really have high hopes for the end of the season,” Roche said. “We’re just taking it game-by-game, pitch-by-pitch.”

“We’re hungry,” Clark said. “We want to make the playoffs, and we want to make the championship, and we want to win it. We’re here to win.”

The Cyclones are back in action Tuesday night against the Valleycats and will send righty Dawrin Frias to the mound. Game time is 7 p.m.

Click here to view the complete box score from this game.

The post Offensive Barrage Lifts Cyclones Over Valleycats appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

But with the game on the line in the top of the eighth, Cyclones’ manager Rich Donnelly called on the reliever to get the final six outs.

Magliozzi came through in dominant fashion as Brooklyn held on for a 6-4 win Friday evening at MCU Park over the Vermont Lake Monsters, the Single-A short season affiliate of the Oakland A’s.

“I really like coming in with runners on and no outs; I like jams and situations like that,” Magliozzi said. “It’s really fun and gets the adrenaline going.”

Cyclones get the win (Photo by Jim Mancari)

The Cyclones actually got out hit in this game, 8-6, but were able to take advantage of three Lake Monsters’ errors to earn the victory.

“In this league, runs are at a premium,” Donnelly said. “The league batting average is .241, and the pitchers are good, so you can’t give away runs.”

Brooklyn moves back to a game over .500 and remains two games out of first place in the McNamara Division of the New York-Penn League behind the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

The Lake Monsters jumped right out to an early lead in the top of the first, as an L.J. Mazzilli error allowed an unearned run to score off Cyclones’ starter John Gant.

Brooklyn tied it up in the bottom of the second inning, when right fielder James Roche launched a home run to left field. It was his second home run in as many nights and his fourth on the season. Friday was a scheduled Fireworks Night in Coney Island, but Roche provided his own fireworks early on.

“I’ve been feeling pretty good at the plate,” Roche said. “I’ve been working hard with Bobby (Malek) out hitting coach. It just clicked there, and I just have to keep working hard and keep at it.”

In the bottom of the third, the Cyclones tacked on three runs. Mazzilli walked with the bases loaded to plate a run followed by a sacrifice fly by left fielder Jared King, playing in his first game since Aug. 6 after suffering an oblique injury. Roche then drove in his second run of the night with an RBI single to left.

Gant gave up a run in the fifth and two in the sixth, but his team gave him enough support for him to earn his fourth straight win. He lasted six innings, giving up eight hits, four runs, three earned while striking out six to add to his New York-Penn League-leading total of 67.

Cyclones’ righty reliever Christian Chivilli turned in a scoreless seventh inning, but he walked the first two men in the top of the eighth, forcing Donnelly to go Magliozzi.

“Mags” struck out the first two batters and then induced a comebacker to get out of the jam. He tossed a 1-2-3 ninth to pick up his fifth save of the season.

“Johnny Mags was phenomenal tonight,” Donnelly said. “Val (pitching coach Marc Valdes) said he has to learn how to go two innings, so that’s why we brought him in. He was real good.”

“Our bullpen has been strong all year,” Magliozzi said. “We just have to keep it going and throw strikes.”

Brooklyn leadoff man Patrick Biondi had a strong overall performance going 1-for-2 with two walks, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly. Shortstop Gavin Cecchini laced a fifth-inning single to extend his hitting streak to 14 games.

“We’re going to try to work off this win and keep it going for this next home stretch,” Roche said.

All-Star Miller Diaz heads to the mound Saturday evening in Game 2 of this three-game set with Vermont. Game time is 6 p.m.

Click here to view the complete box score from this game.

The post Johnny Magliozzi The Stopper In Cyclones’ 6-4 Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

If a team does do that, it usually isn’t a short season Single-A team. But the Brooklyn Cyclones enjoyed a complete effort in a 4-0 victory Monday evening over the Hudson Valley Renegades, the short season affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays, to cap off a two-game series sweep.

The Cyclones move back to the .500 mark (20-20) for the first time since early in the season. The win also ends a 35-day drought of being under .500 – one day shy of the franchise mark of 36 set back in 2006. The Cyclones wound up earning a wild-card berth that season.

Brooklyn has now won a season-high five straight games and pulls within two games of first place in McNamara Division of the New York-Penn League behind the Renegades. Not too long ago, the Cyclones were in last place.

“You have to get to the point before you can get beyond the point,” said Cyclones’ manager Rich Donnelly about getting back to .500. “I sound like Casey Stengel! We’ve played good ball the last week. Every time we make a good play, I write it down, and my card is full.”

During the streak, the team’s starting pitching has done the yeoman’s work. Cyclones’ starters have turned in six straight quality starts, including six innings of shutout ball Monday night from lefty Carlos Valdez, who picked up his first win of the season after scattering just four hits. Brooklyn starters managed only seven quality starts through the team’s first 34 games.

Reliever Akeel Morris followed with three scoreless innings. In 25 innings this season, Morris has not surrendered an earned run.

“We’ve been pitching really well, and the offense has been coming through with guys in scoring position,” said left fielder Jared King, who extended his home hitting streak to seven games. “That’s what you need to do to win…just execute and we’ve been good at that the last couple of weeks.”

The Cyclones got on the board early with a home run from first baseman Matt Oberste – his second of the season – to leadoff the bottom of the second inning. The Cyclones are now 16-6 in games when scoring first.

Valdez faced the minimum through the first three innings, and his team gave him some insurance in the bottom of the fourth. Back-to-back doubles from designated hitter Alex Sanchez and right fielder James Roche – the latter of which was a chopper over the third base bag that plated two runs – put Brooklyn ahead 3-0.

“I was looking for a pitch to drive in that spot,” Roche said. “I didn’t quite drive it, but I hit it in the right stop. That’s all that counted there.”

Oberste scored the team’s fourth run in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out error by Renegades’ shortstop Julian Morillo.

The Cyclones will head on the road Tuesday for six-games, starting with a three-game series against the Williamsport Crosscutters. Seth Lugo will attempt to keep Brooklyn’s streak of quality starts alive as he takes the hill.

Click here to view the complete box score of this game.

The post Balanced Effort Leads Cyclones To 5th Straight Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Brooklyn Cyclones are inching closer to the .500 mark as the team notched its third straight win with a 4-3 victory over the Lowell Spinners – the Single-A short season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox – Monday night at MCU Park in Coney Island.

It took a late eighth-inning comeback, but the Cyclones were able to scratch out the win, moving them to 9-12 on the season.

Brooklyn was able to get the victory on one of the team’s “Meaningful Mondays” in which $3 from every ticket is donated to an area affected by Hurricane Sandy. Monday night’s recipient was Gerritsen Beach in Brooklyn, and the team wore their special commemorative blue jerseys with the names of affected areas on the back.

Righty John Gant started the game for the Cyclones and actually had a no-hitter going through the first 5.2 innings. But it was anything but pretty.

He allowed an unearned run to score in each of the first two innings as a result of leadoff walks in each inning. Two errors by catcher Colton Plaia did not help either, as the Spinners took an early 2-0 lead without recording a hit.

Luckily, the Cyclones did not wait around to respond, as they scored three runs in the bottom of the second. Four hits, including RBI doubles from Plaia and right fielder James Roche, put Brooklyn back on top 3-2. Roche had been one of his last 13 with 11 strikeouts before his clutch hit.

Gant settled in from there, striking out seven, but he still walked five Spinners on the evening. In each of his four starts though, he’s thrown at least five innings and has struck out at least six batters.

“A big part of pitching is being consistent,” Gant said. “It’s fun striking people out, so I guess I’ll try to just keep doing that. I definitely walked way too many tonight. That’s five too many.”

“They didn’t hit too many balls hard, but he (Gant) was all over the place, walking people,” Cyclones’ manager Rich Donnelly said. “He walked the leadoff hitter three times. He’s a funny dude. He walked four but struck out seven. John’s pitched well this year, but this was a weird outing.”

The Spinners tied up the game in top of the eighth inning off Cyclones’ reliever Cristian Chivilli. Chivilli surrendered another leadoff walk, and Lowell left fielder Aaron King delivered the game-tying RBI single.

“You start doing that (walking the leadoff man) in any league and any game, and you’re going to be in trouble,” Donnelly said. “Late in the game, you’re going to bunt or steal or something to try to get the run in. These runs are like gold.”

Again though, the Cyclones continue to show fight late in games. Center fielder Patrick Biondi worked out a walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Shortstop Juan Gamboa, who has filled in admirably for Gavin Cecchini – who was recently placed on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle – then dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt.

With two outs, Cyclones’ left fielder Jared King blooped a line drive into left center field. Spinners’ outfielders King and Manuel Margot converged on the ball but collided, allowing the ball to drop and Biondi to score the go-ahead run.

“You want to try to get a good pitch to hit…something over the plate that I could handle,” Jared King said. “Fortunately, I just hit in in the right spot.”

Things got interesting in the top of the ninth, as Cyclones’ side-arming lefty reliever Shawn Teufel, Tim’s son, walked the leadoff hitter – the fifth time in the game a Cyclones’ pitcher did that. After a sacrifice bunt, Spinners’ third baseman Nick Moore chopped an infield single over Teufel’s head setting up first and third with one out.

Teufel struck out Spinners’ catcher David Sopilka, and then Donnelly jogged out of the dugout for a conference on the mound with his entire infield.

“I said, ‘Teuf, you’re going to get this guy out and I don’t want this ball thrown if he goes,’” Donnelly said. “I had enough confidence in Teuf and said ‘If he goes, you get the hitter.’”

Teufel did just that, as he struck out Spinners’ designated hitter Tzu-Wei Lin to end the game. There would be no “Linsanity” Monday night in Coney Island.

Though the team won, seven walks is a cause for concern.

The Cyclones are back in action for one of two 11 a.m. summer games Tuesday for camp day. Lefty Carlos Valdez takes the ball for Brooklyn, still looking for his first win of the season.

Click here to view the complete box score from this game.

The post Late Comeback Fuels Cyclones’ 3rd Straight Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Welcome to MMN Storylines, where you get a quick wrap-up of last night’s top performers..

• Our first-round pick in the ’13 Draft, Dominic Smith, hit his first professional home run last night. It was part of a three hit game, where he went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs. Smith and Wuilmer Becerra both had nice games, with Becerra going 2-for-4 with two doubles.

• Daniel Muno probably went ahead and had the best game for all Mets Minor League players last night, as he burst on the scene with seven RBIs — his entire team’s offense — and propelled them to victory. Muno slammed a grand slam to tie the game in Binghamton, and he added a three-run shot later on for good measure. Muno has been swinging the hot stick lately, with a .344 average over his last ten games and three long balls.

• Pedro Perez of the Kingsport Roster also had a two home-run game with seven RBIs yesterday — how unlikely! Speaking of Kingsport, they dropped a 20-run bomb on the scoreboard last night with a ton of players having multi-hit and RBI games. Champ Stuarthad the nicest game outside of Perez, with two hits and four RBIs.

• Your injury updates: Ruben Tejada went 0-for-5 with a strike out in Las Vegas, Pedro Feliciano tossed a scoreless frame for Binghamton, and Hansel Robles returned to St. Lucie with a so-so start yesterday.

• James Roche had the best night in defeat for Brooklyn, going 1-for-3 with a double, run scored, and stolen base.

• Kevin Plawecki doubled again and drove in the winning run for St. Lucie via ground-out.Chasen Bradford, T.J. Chism, and Bret Mitchell combined for 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

The post Mets Minors: Smith Hits First Professional Homer, Muno Wallops Two Homers In Seven RBI Game appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Cyclones’ right fielder James Roche delivered the deciding two-out RBI walkoff single to left center in the bottom of the 13th to give Brooklyn the win.

The victory comes a day after the Cyclones rallied from down four runs in the ninth inning on Saturday to the Aberdeen Ironbirds, only to lose the game 5-4 in extra innings.

The whole contest was a wild affair at MCU Park in Coney Island. The game was supposed to start at 5 p.m. but was delayed an hour since the Renegades’ team bus broke down on the way to the park.

Though always windy at the stadium, the weather was great for baseball until the tenth inning, when the skies opened up. The fans that remained in the ballpark were treated to excellent relief pitching by the Cyclones’ bullpen and Roche’s late-game heroics.

But overall, the Cyclones didn’t exactly play their best game of baseball, making a few costly mental and base running mistakes, which extended the game.

“I’m happy with the win; I’m happy with the comeback, but I’m not happy overall with the way we played,” Cyclones’ manager Rich Donnelly said. “The effort was there. We just weren’t very smart sometimes.”

Dominican lefty Dario Alvarez made his first start for the Cyclones and his first in affiliated ball since 2009. His older brother passed away the night before, but he told his manager that he still wanted to make the start.

“He (Alvarez) showed the heart of a champion by doing it,” Donnelly said.

Alvarez lasted 4.1 innings, surrendering only a first-inning RBI single off the bat of Renegades’ designated hitter Oscar Hernandez.

The Cyclones tied it up in the bottom of the third on an RBI single to right field by shortstop Gavin Cecchini off Renegades’ starter Chris Kirsch. After a slow start, Cecchini is now seven for his last 17 and has three consecutive multi-hit games.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Cyclones had first and second with nobody out in an ideal bunt situation. Center fielder and leadoff man Patrick Biondi – who is supposed to be a good bunter – popped up the bunt attempt for an out, changing the whole complexion of the inning. The runner on second – catcher Tomas Nido – made an even worse play when he was thrown out trying to steal third base with two outs.

“These kids are young, and they’re going to make mistakes,” Donnelly said. “You expect them after they’re taught to not repeat them (mistakes). So we’ve got a lot of work to do.”

Naturally, Hudson Valley immediately took advantage of those mistakes, with three straight doubles off Cyclones’ reliever Dawrin Frias in the top of the sixth to go up 3-1.

After three straight innings of getting the leadoff man on base and failing to score, the Cyclones plated a run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single to center by left fielder Jared King, scoring Cecchini who had doubled to start the inning.

Roche began the game-tying rally in the bottom of the ninth with a single followed by a successful sacrifice bunt by Nido after two failed attempts. Biondi came up with another clutch hit – a single to right field – to send the game to extra innings.

“I think anybody that plays the game wants to be up in those situations,” Biondi said. “I just had another opportunity to get a big hit and tie the game up.”

Cyclones’ lefty relievers David Wynn and John Mincone – who picked up the win – combined to retire 15 consecutive batters from the ninth through 13th innings to keep Brooklyn in the game. Mincone struck out five of the six batters he faced. In 25 innings this season, Cyclones’ relievers have allowed only three runs and have struck out 38 opposing hitters.

After another poorly executed bunt and a few more base running blunders, the Cyclones’ mounted a rally in the bottom of the 13th. With two outs and runners on first and second, Roche – who had earlier bunted into a double play – redeemed himself with a line shot to left center that was just out of the diving reach of Renegades’ left fielder Granden Goetzman.

“I tried not to get upset and stayed within myself,” Roche said about his double-play bunt. “I was hoping that I was going to get another opportunity, and fortunately I was able to get that hit at the end.”

“The guys grinded it out,” Donnelly said. “It was a tough game. We did everything possible to lose the game.”

The Cyclones open a five-game road trip Monday evening against these same Hudson Valley Renegades at 7:05 p.m.

Stay tuned for an upcoming feature story on L.J. and Lee Mazzilli

Click here to view the complete box score from this game.

The post James Roche Gives Cyclones Rain-Soaked Walkoff Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.