Baby Bums Fall Short of Playoff Bid in 5-3 Extra-Inning Loss

September 6, 2008   ·   Patrick Hickey, Jr.   ·   Jump to comments

The Brooklyn Cyclones playoff run came up about 20 feet too short on Friday, after a 5-3 extra-inning nail-biting loss to the Aberdeen Ironbirds.

With Kirk Nieuwenhuis, their best hitter all season at the plate in the bottom of the tenth, an absolute bomb off the third round pick’s bat was torn from the sky courtesy of Hurricane Hanna-inspired winds, right into Aberdeen outfielder Jacob Julius’s glove in right center field.

Seconds later, the last Fireworks show of the summer at Coney Island started, symbolizing a beautiful season that in the end, just wasn’t meant to be.

A half inning afterwards, an error from closer Yury Santana opened the door for a two-run Aberdeen 11th, effectively euthanizing the Cyclones 2008 playoff hopes.

“I’m sad, but I’m happy,” said Cyclones manager Edgar Alfonzo. “Everyone got better this year and when you are 15 games over .500, it’s a successful season regardless.”

The Cyclones got on the board in the first after an Eric Campbell sacrifice fly scored Nieuwenhuis and gave them a 1-0 lead. The Mets Single-A affiliate continued to produce in the second as well after a Josh Satin single scored Seth Williams and a Jose Jimenez sacrifice fly [his second RBI since the All-Star break] scored Satin, putting Brooklyn up 3-0.

With an early three-run lead, Cyclones starter Scott Shaw was solid and despite some control problems in the third, kept Aberdeen scoreless and the lead intact. In the fourth however, Ironbirds third baseman Tyler Kolodny brought the shutout bid to end with an RBI single. A passed ball and a sacrifice fly later in the inning allowed two more runs to score, tying the game at 3-3.

Reliever Wendy Rosa replaced Shaw in the fifth and pitched 1.2 innings of shutout ball before walking a pair of hitters. Mattias Carrillo then came out of the Brooklyn bullpen and got the final out of the inning and pitched two shutout innings before leaving in favor of Jeff Kaplan with two outs in the top of the eighth. Getting the final out of the inning, Kaplan kept the score at 3-3 going into the ninth.

The Brooklyn offense could not come through in the bottom of the ninth however, sending the game into extra innings.

Kaplan’s night then came to an end in the tenth, as he lasted only one out into the inning after allowing a walk to Calvin Lester and a sacrifice bunt. Alfonzo was then forced to bring in Santana and things got interesting after that, as Lester stole third with only one out. Santana was on his game though, retiring both hitters he faced to keeping the game tied going into the 11th.

Santana was again on the mound after Brooklyn after the Baby Bums couldn’t produce at the plate in the tenth. This time however, the 26-year-old wasn’t as sharp and committed an error on a routine dribbler down the first base line, which opened the door for a TJ Baxter RBI single later in the inning that put Aberdeen ahead 4-3. Santana then walked the next hitter he faced and was replaced by Roy Merritt with the bases loaded. Despite striking out the first hitter he faced, Merritt soon ran into trouble of his own, walking home a run before ending the inning with the Ironbirds up 5-3.

Continuing to have problems against Aberdeen pitching, Brooklyn couldn’t get back in the ballgame, as catcher Caesar Cordido grounded into a double play after a lead-off walk in the bottom of 11th. Pinch-hitter Sean Ratliff was then retired on strikes to end the game 5-3.

With the loss, the Cyclones are eliminated for post-season play and will not make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons.

“It disappointing,” said Nieuwenhuis. “But we all worked hard this season and we played great baseball down the stretch.”

Notes-

Winning 13 of their last 16 before Friday night’s game, Brooklyn’s offense mustered only eight hits on the night.

With his 79th hit tonight, Nieuwenhuis tied the Cyclones single-season hit record with Dustin Martin and Ambiorix Concepcion.

“I had no idea,” he said. “I would have liked to get one or to more today, but the wind got them.”

Nieuwenhuis also tied the Cyclones single-season record for most games played, set by Ian Bladergroen in 2003.

Even if Brooklyn would have won on Friday, things would have remained tricky in assessing their playoff hopes. Because of the remnants of Hurricane Hanna, which has already begun to hit Brooklyn, the Cyclones may not have been able to play today’s game. Then, if Batavia would have won their season finale today and Brooklyn was unable to play due to the weather, Batavia would have made the playoffs as the wild card due to a higher win percentage. However, if Brooklyn didn’t play and either Batavia or Jamestown lost, Brooklyn would have made the playoffs for the third consecutive season.

Update: 1:30 P.M.

Today’s season finale has been canceled.

Photos by Ron Hatcher.