by In front of their fourth consecutive sellout crowd this season the Staten Island Yankees fell to the visiting Aberdeen Ironbirds 8-5.
The Ironbirds were the first to get on the board plating a run in the top of the second inning. Tyler Kolodny was hit by the pitch to start it off and then stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Mike Flacco and Jeremy Nowak got back-to-back walks before Austin Goolsby grounded into a force out at the plate. Omar Casamayer then grounded the ball to the shortstop but they were unable to make a play and the run scored.
Aberdeen plated two more in the top of the third. The first run came on a fly ball homerun to right field by LJ Hoes with one out. After that David Anderson was hit by the pitch and Tyler Kolodny walked before Mike Flacco singled to load the bases. After a strikeout Austin Goolsby walked to force home a run.
In the bottom of the third the Staten Island Yankees plated their first run of the game. With two-outs Jeff Farnham singled and scored on a double to right field by Eduardo Sosa. Sosa was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple.
With two outs in the top of the fourth the Aberdeen Ironbirds plated two more when LJ Hoes singled and came home on a homerun to right by David Anderson.
Yankees starter Sam Elam was knocked out of the game after giving up the homerun in the fourth. Elam was charged with five runs on six hits and four walks while striking out three in his three and two-third innings.
In the bottom of the seventh inning the Baby Bombers started their rally when with one out Jose Mojica singled and went to second on an error. After Garrison Lassiter walked Jeff Farnham singled to right field moving the runners up to third. Jose Mojica attempted to go home on the throw but was tagged out at the plate. Eduardo Sosa was up next and he tripled on a fly ball to left playing Lassiter and Farnham to cut the Ironbirds lead to 5-3.
In the bottom of the eighth inning the Staten Island Yankees tied the game up at 5. With one-out Kyle Roller reached base on a fielding error by the first baseman and then moved to second on a ground ball single to left by Kelvin De Leon. A wild pitch with Carlos Urena at the plate moved the runners up 90feet. Urena then hit a two-RBI single to left plating both Roller and DeLeon for the fourth and fifth runs respectively.
The tie did not last long as the Aberdeen Ironbirds plated two more in the top of the ninth inning off of reliever Preston Claiborne. Austin Knight started it off reaching on a fielding error and moving to second on a walk Pedro Florimon Jr. LJ Hoes was next and he doubled on a fly ball to center that scored Knight and Florimon. Hoes was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple. After a line out Tyler Kolodny singled to left then stole second and third before scoring on a single by Mike Flacco.
Matthew Jernstad made his affiliated minor league debut in the game pitching four and a third innings in relief of Sam Elam. Jerstad walked the first batter he faced but then retired 13 straight, striking out 6 of them. Preston Claiborne took the loss when he gave up three runs in the ninth inning on three hits and a walk.
Tomorrow night the Ironbirds and the Yankees will face off in the rubber game of the three-game series. Right-handed pitcher Mikey O’Brien is scheduled to take the hill for the Staten Island Yankees.
