SI Yankees Open Series With Win After Being Swept By Connecticut

Not much has gone right for the Baby Bombers this week, as they saw themselves get swept by the Connecticut Tigers and fall to a season-worst 4.5 games back from first place.

After taking two of three from the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Staten Island Yankees were only a half game back and looked like they were turning the season around after a sub-par July and August. However, they fell short in three consecutive games against Connecticut, scoring only two runs the whole series. These were winnable games as their pitching showed up, but the bats went cold as can be.

The Yankees redeemed themselves against Aberdeen, thanks to a brilliant pitching effort by Freicer Perez and Justin Kamplain. Perez pitched six innings of shutout baseball, striking out six, but no run support resulted in the no decision. Kamplain pitched a solid three innings of shutout baseball in relief, as he would receive his first win of the year.

The game was tied at nil until the bottom of the ninth, when the Yankees would win in walk-off fashion. Timmy Robinson got the inning started with a ground-rule double. After Kane Sweeney walked, Angel Aguilar would single to left field to load the bases with only one out. Kendal Coleman then singled Robinson home to end the Yankees three-game losing streak.

This was a much needed victory for the Yankees as they find themselves 4.5 games behind first place Hudson Valley and only hold a .5 game lead over Connecticut for the Wild Card. With only 13 games remaining, it does not look good for the Yankees to win the division. They will need to secure the wild card. Staten Island has a crucial three-game series coming up with Connecticut next week.

For now, they have two games left against Aberdeen, which are must wins. The Baby Bombers must start to string a few wins together, if they want a shot at a playoff berth. They will be back in action tonight at 7:05 PM.