The Aberdeen IronBirds (9-8) dropped the Brooklyn Cyclones (6-11) last night by a score of 5-1, and now stand in 2nd place in the McNamara division. After winning on America’s birthday in game 1 of the 3-game set against Brooklyn last night, the red-hot Aberdeen squad has reeled off 4 wins in a row, and now has an outstanding 9-3 record in the last 12 games, and trail the division leading Hudson Valley Renegades (11-7) by just 1.5 games. Aberdeen was led to victory by a phenomenal game from 3B Hector Veloz (2-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI), and an outstanding combined pitching performance from last night’s starter Mitch Horacek ( 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K’s) and relievers David Richardson ( 3 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K’s- got the W) and Jorge Rivera ( 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K).
The IronBirds would take a 1-0 on a lead-off solo HR from Veloz in the 2nd Inning, and then after a walk to Connor Bierfeldt and a Manny Hernandez single, Hector Veloz would then extend the Aberdeen lead to 4-0 with a 3-run bomb to LF in the 4th Inning (Both HR’s off of Brooklyn SP Seth Lugo). IronBirds starter Mitch Horacek pitching very well in his 2nd professional start, cruising through four shutout Innings before reliever David Richardson came into the game in the 5th Inning. Brooklyn would get their only run of the game after a 2B by RF James Roche and an RBI 2B from C Tomas Nido in the 5th Inning before Aberdeen would tack on another insurance run and up the lead to 5-1 in the 7th Inning after SS Jared Breen singled, stole 2B, and then scored on an RBI single from 2B Jeff Kemp. Jorge Rivera would then pitch lights out in the 8th and 9th Innings to close out the W for the 4th of July crowd of 6,323 at Ripken Stadium!!!
Now, here’s a couple of notes on last night’s game:
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- After his 2 HR and 4 RBI game last night, Hector Veloz now leads the team in HR’s (4) and RBI’s (13) while posting an impressive .306 avg with a .348 OBP. His 4 HR’s and 13 RBI’s are also T-2nd in the NYPL.
- Trey Mancini now has a 3-game hitting streak after picking up a single last night. The 21-year-old 1B is hitting .351 (5th in NYPL) with 1 HR and 8 RBI’s on the year, and is hitting a ridiculous .470 over his last nine games.
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- SS Jared Breen is now on a 7-game hitting streak after going 1-3 last night, and is hitting .296 ( 8 for 27) during that span. The 22-year-old also leads the team in SB’s (5)
- 2B Jeff Kemp and RF Manny Hernandez are also on 3-game hitting streaks. Kemp extended his hitting streak with an RBI single in the 7th, and is now hitting .333 (4 for 12) over that span, while Hernandez kept his streak alive with a single in the 4th Inning, and is now hitting .444 ( 4 for 9) in the last three games with 2 R and 3 RBI.
- Last night’s starter LHP Mitch Horacek was dominant in 4 Innings, and in 2 starts on the year he now has a 5.40 ERA In 6.2 Innings to go along with 4 K’s, while RHP David Richardson has been lights out since moving to the bullpen. In his 3 games out of the pen, the-22-year-old Richardson has allowed just one run In 7.2 Innings and has racked up 7 K’s. LHP Jorge Rivera added 2 more shutout Innings to his incredible start to the 2013 season. The 22-year-old southpaw from Barahona, Dominican Republic has a sparkling 1.32 ERA in 13.2 Innings to go along with 13 K’s and an outstanding 0.73 WHIP, while holding batters to a .136 avg.
- The IronBirds hitters now have mult-HR games in 3 straight games, putting them 3rd in the NYPL in HR’s (11). The IronBirds pitching staff has been outstanding in 2013, placing 2nd in IP (163.1) and K’s (153) to go with an impressive 3.42 ERA and a rock-solid 1.26 WHIP.
- The Aberdeen IronBirds (9-8) will take on the Brooklyn Cyclones (6-11) in game 2 of the 3-game set tonight at 7:05 PM. RHP Austin Urban (0-2, 7.82 ERA) will take the mound for the 4th time this season for Aberdeen, while LHP Daniel Alvarez (0-1, 6.00 ERA) will get the start for the Cyclones.
That’s all I have for now IronBirds fans!! Tonight’s line-up’s will be posted here and on IBN’s twitter, but it’s still TBD if there will be pre-game notes posted for tonight’s game since I’m going to the game tonight. See you later, IronBirds Nation!
– Logan Quick