They had failed seven times before and there was no reason to believe last night would be any different. But it was. The Staten Island Yankees beat the Cyclones. Finally.
Yankee starting pitcher TJ Beam assured the change in his team’s fortune, pitching five brilliant innings in the Baby Bombers’ 6-4 victory at KeySpan Park.
“He was a one-pitch pitcher tonight,” said Yankees manager Andy Stankiewicz. “He only had his fastball, but he was spotting it very well. They hit a lot of fly balls, which means he had a lot of late life. To do that against a good hitting team like them is impressive.”
Beam felt strong – if not a bit worried that he’d have to rely on one pitch – coming out of his pregame bullpen session.
“I didn’t have any kind of breaking stuff,” said Beam, who made only his second start after opening the season in the bullpen. “My curve ball was gone. I had a really good fastball and I had good control.”
Beam held the Cyclones to two runs on only two hits and the Yankee bats – which have played little more than a cameo role this season – woke up for eight hits.
Four of those came in the Yankees’ four-run fourth inning.
But before that, the game seemed like same-old, same-old.
The Yankees (9-19) opened the scoring in the first inning, but that didn’t last. When the Cyclones (21-8) scored two runs on one hit to take a 2-1 lead in the third, it seemed like déjà vu, all over again.
But the Yanks came roaring back in the fourth with four straight singles and a sacrifice fly from Tyson Hanish to go up, 5-2. They would add another in the fifth after back-to-back doubles by Horace Lawrence and Jared Treadway.
After Tuesday’s 5-4 win, the Cyclones assured themselves of winning the 12-game season series between the inter-borough rivals. The Yankees were already mired in last place and finding a reason to play seemed imperative.
“They’ve been beating us up pretty good,” Stankiewicz said. “After seven straight, that tells you they got our number. Is it a huge deal? No. We just need to get more wins.”
Beam was willing to be a little more honest.
“It really doesn’t matter, but it’s more special,” Beam said. “It’s definitely a little more enjoyable.”