Abruzzo’s Two Homers Give Clones Their Eighth Straight Win

September 1, 2008   ·   Patrick Hickey, Jr.   ·   Jump to comments

With just six games remaining, the Brooklyn Cyclones are sure making the New York-Penn League playoff race an interesting one.

Powered by a two-homer night from catcher Jordan Abruzzo, the Baby Bums kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-1 win over the Hudson Valley Renegades Sunday night, climbing to just a half game behind the Jamestown Jammers for the NYPL Wild Card spot.

“It feels like we can’t lose,” said Cyclones starter Scott Shaw. “But we can’t stop there. We have six games left and we have to keep winning.”

Despite giving up eight hits, Shaw limited the Hudson Valley offense to only one run over 5.1 innings pitched.

Hudson Valley starter Shane Dyer was just as solid early on, but gave up an Abruzzo solo-homer in the fourth that gave Brooklyn a 1-0 lead.

Looking for their eighth win in a row, the Cyclones admitted they would have liked to give Shaw some more offensive support, but loved his perseverance on the mound in spite of it.

“When a pitcher doesn’t have his best stuff and pitches that way, you have to be proud,” Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo said. “He gave us a chance to win tonight.”

Showing the moxie of a playoff team, the Clones got the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth after an Ike Davis single and an error by Renegades right fielder Kyeong Kang allowed Eric Campbell, who reached on an error earlier in the inning by Hudson Valley shortstop Robi Estrada, to score and give them their one-run lead back at 2-1.

Johnson continued to pitch for Brooklyn and twirled scoreless frames in the seventh and eighth, while Abruzzo added his second homer in the bottom of the eighth to put the Mets Single-A affiliate up by two runs with only one inning left to play.

Johnson then returned to the mound on the ninth and retired the side in order, giving the Baby Bums their eighth consecutive victory.

With losses by Staten Island and Jamestown on Sunday, Brooklyn is now three games out of first place in the McNamara Division and a half game back of the Wild Card.

Nevertheless, Brooklyn knows they can’t afford to count their chickens before they hatch and must continue winning in order to secure a post-season birth.

“We keep this up, who knows what could happen,” said Johnson. “We’re making it interesting. That’s for sure.”

Notes-

While the Cyclones coaching staff said on Sunday that Reese Havens’ return could be as soon as today, with the Mets first round pick taking batting practice on Sunday and looking like he’s awfully close to 100 percent, the team still feels like it may keep him out of the lineup longer.

“He’s ready to play, but I don’t know,” said Alfonzo. “In terms of his career, it’s not important for him to play right now. Maybe he’ll DH or pinch-hit here and there, but we don’t want him to go out there and get hurt and miss more time. We need to be careful.”

With Wilmer Flores thriving in Brooklyn [seven hits in his first four games], the Mets Single-A affiliate could have an interesting situation develop over the final week of the season.

Cyclones first baseman Ike Davis is hitting .351 over his past 10 games and has a nine-game hitting streak.

“I hope he keeps hitting this way,” said Alfonzo. “We need him hot over the last six games.”

Update 9:30 P.M.-

With 12 strikeouts tonight, Cyclones starter Brad Holt has broken the record for most K’s in a season by a Brooklyn pitcher. The previous record was 93 by Kevin Deaton in 2002.

Photos by Ron Hatcher.