Bombers take second straight from Tigers

STATEN ISLAND, NY- Make it two for two.

The Staten Island Yankees made it two straight over the Oneonta Tigers by posting a 4-2 victory before 2,343 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark Tuesday night. The win was their fourth in five, putting them a season high six games over .500 (23-17) and into a tie with Lowell for the wildcard.

It also vaulted them half a game ahead of Oneonta (23-18) in what should be an exciting race for the final playoff berth in the Penn League.

"A good win for us. I think that kind of puts us back in the chase a little bit," said second baseman Damon Sublett after continuing to swing a hot bat with an RBI double in the seventh which scored Taylor Holiday for a key insurance run. "Hopefully we get on a roll from that from playing hard. Hopefully we'll keep winning."

The Baby Bombers got a solid pitching effort from the tandem of starter Chris Farley and middle reliever Craig Heyer, who each split the first eight innings allowing just one unearned run before handing the baton over to Jonathan Ortiz. After permitting a 400-plus foot leadoff home run to Oneonta's Chris Carlson to dead center off the black, the closer settled down to retire the final three batters for his sixth save.

Carlson was also involved in the Tigers' only other run which got them the lead in the fourth. The first baseman ledoff the frame with a single before advancing to second with one out on a passed ball. He then came around to score on Jorge Patino's RBI single to right to give his ballclub their only lead of the night.

Farley finished his final inning strong by getting the last two swinging. His teammates picked him up in the bottom half to tie it thanks to a clutch two out runscoring single from right fielder Matt Morris which scored backstop Jose Gil after he started things off with a single of his own before D.J. Hollingsworth sacrificed him over.

"[Morris] hadn't played last couple of games. And for him to come through like that in a big situation, that's a big deal. It's good to get contributions throughout the lineup," Sublett pointed out.

Staten Island threatened to go ahead when centerfielder Justin Snyder's infield hit put runners on the corners. However, Holiday fanned to end it.

The game wouldn't stay knotted for long though as third baseman Braedyn Pruitt connected for a two-run dinger to right off losing Oneonta starter Guillermo Moscoso (4-1) in the fifth to put the Bombers ahead for good.

"He's just been hitting all year. If he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to make a name for himself," added Sublett whose RBI double two innings later made it eight of his last nine games with a hit.

"I'm just trying to be consistent and put some better swings on some balls and good things happen."


Notes: Despite banging out 10 hits, Staten Island stranded 16 runners while their opponents weren't much better leaving 12 on base. ... With another multi-hit game, Pruitt is now hitting .458 (27-for-59) this summer. The corner infielder hit in eight of his last nine, finishing the month of July a sizzling 15-for-33 (.455). Since returning from the DL, he's hit in eight of 10 and only was hitless once in nine starts. ... Snyder continued his hot hitting with a three hit night to lift his average to .381 (51-for-134) which places him second just four points behind Penn League leading hitter Mahoning Valley's Todd Martin. ... Heyer worked four scoreless in relief to pickup his second win. ... Bombers go for the sweep tonight before Lowell comes in for three starting tomorrow.