Brutal beginning for 2016 Baby Bums

Cyclones Suffer Two Marathon Defeats and Get No-Hit During 1-3 Start

June 21, 2016 By John Torenli, Sports Editor Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Cyclones outfielder Emmanuel Zabala hit a leadoff homer on Opening Night against Staten Island, kicking off a 20-inning affair that Brooklyn lost in heartbreaking fashion to the rival Yankees. Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Cyclones

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Opening Weekend for the 2016 Brooklyn Cyclones began with a punch to the solar plexus and ended with a kick to the unmentionables.

Oh, and the Baby Bums also got no-hit by the arch rival Staten Island during a surreal start to their Sweet 16 season on Coney Island.

The 7,000-plus fans who poured into MCU Park on Friday evening for Opening Night had no idea they were about to witness the second-longest game in franchise history, a mind-numbing 3-2, 20-inning defeat that featured a full fireworks display during the marathon contest.

Things actually got worse in Staten Island on Saturday night as Brooklyn got no-hit for the first time ever, suffering the indignity of a 2-1, 10-inning defeat to the Baby Bombers.

“We very easily could have won that game, 1-0,” third-year Cyclones manager Tom Gamboa lamented.

After saving some face by grinding out a 2-1 win over visiting Tri-City on Father’s Day, the Cyclones (1-3) endured another soul-crushing loss Monday night at MCU as they battled tooth and nail with the ValleyCats for over six hours before coming out on the wrong end of a 10-9, 17-inning decision.

That’s a total of 56 innings played for Brooklyn through four games with only one win to show for it, an ominous beginning for a franchise that is seeking its first postseason berth in four long, hot summers on Surf Avenue.

Considering the Cyclones (1-3) will be lucky to get a couple of days off during the 2 1/2 month, 76-game grind of a Class A short-season schedule, Gamboa has to be wondering what the baseball gods have in store for his unit next.

Friday’s five-hour-and-39-minute season opener actually got off to a brilliant start as Emmanuel Zabala led off the bottom of the first with a majestic home run off the left-field scoreboard.

However, Brooklyn managed just one more run over the next 19 frames, getting an RBI triple from first baseman Darryl Knight in the bottom of the fourth. Knight was stranded at third base as the Cyclones managed just four hits over the final 16 innings.

Gamboa was forced to use two of his position players on the mound as the game wore on, watching incredulously from the dugout as infielder Franklin Correa pitched two scoreless frames before back-up first baseman Dionis Paulino (0-1) yielded a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the top of the 20th.

Brooklyn left 10 men on base in the hard-to-swallow loss, and went a meek 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position.

Saturday’s offensive effort was even more offensive as the Cyclones again took a first-inning lead when Zabala was hit by a pitch and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch.

After that, Brooklyn went a combined 0-for-30 at the plate, leaving five men on base and going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, finishing the two-game set against S.I. with a less-than-blistering .074 team batting average.

With nowhere to go but up on Sunday afternoon, the Cyclones got off the schneid with a scintillating 2-1 victory, fueled by Jay Jabs’ go-ahead two-run single in the bottom of the seventh and a sparkling 5 1/3-inning scoreless pitching performance from starter Merandy Gonzalez, who struck out seven while walking only one.

“We got the most out of the minimum today,” a relieved Gamboa said during his Father’s Day post-game presser. “We only got five hits, but luckily three of them were in a row. I’m just glad we didn’t go extra innings.”

But just when Brooklyn must have felt ready to put the ugliness of the weekend behind it, Cyclones fans were treated to Monday’s endurance test, which ran even longer in time than Friday’s opener with the same result: a heartbreaking loss with a smattering of fans left to witness it.

The Cyclones and ValleyCats remained tied at 6-6 until Tri-City broke through for four runs in the top of the 17th.

Brooklyn rallied in vain in the bottom half, only to see its dream of a miraculous comeback snuffed out when 2015 returnee Brandon Brosher struck out with the bases loaded to end the six-hour, five-minute contest that featured an unfathomable 585 pitches thrown by both teams.

“That 20-inning game took a lot out of us,” Gamboa admitted. “It really just set us back with the pitching … Hopefully, we’re just going to keep getting better.”

Cyclones fans can only hope that a brutal beginning to 2016 will be a distant memory by the time the Baby Bums are competing for their first New York-Penn League playoff berth since 2012 come late August.

Brooklyn was scheduled to close out its three-game home series with Tri-City on Tuesday night before traveling to Connecticut for three straight against the Tigers beginning Wednesday.