STATEN ISLAND, NY- Robbie Widlansky’s pinch hit RBI single in the ninth was the difference as the Ironbirds edged the Baby Bombers 4-3 before 6,536 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark Friday night.

The loss was Staten Island’s second in a row as they fell to 1-3 on the season.

After getting three runs in the first two innings due to plenty of wildness from S.I. starter Angel Reyes (6 walks, wild pitch, 3 ER in 1.1 IP), Aberdeen was shutdown the next six by Baby Bomber relievers Jeff Livek, Ryan Zink and Philip Bartleski. In fact, the trio only allowed two hits over the next six and two thirds to keep their ballclub in the game.

“It was sensational. I think those guys did a really good job,” skipper Mike Gillespie noted. “That was encouraging. I think that’s something to take out of the game and feel good about. To feel upbeat about. Those guys got to keep going out there and that was good stuff.”

Trailing by a run, it enabled them to push across a run in the home fifth thanks to some help from Aberdeen reliever Andy Schindling. With runners on first and second, they advanced a base due to a wild pitch from Schindling. With two outs, right fielder David Williams reached on a Schindling error which allowed shortstop Luis Nunez to score to tie it at three. But that was all they would get as the threat ended when left fielder Andres Perez grounded out to shortstop Tyler Henson.
Two innings later, Perez would come up in a similar situation with runners on the corners and two outs. This time, he tested Henson with a drive up the middle but the Aberdeen shortstop made a diving stab and flipped to second which prevented the Bombers from going ahead.

Defense was on display in this game as both Henson and S.I. third baseman Brian Chavez turned in crowd pleasing web gems. A few innings prior, Chavez robbed ex-major league outfielder Bubba Trammell of a sure two-bagger by diving to his right and then getting up and throwing a bullet to just get him.

“The defense in the game. It was film at 11 defense. [Henson] saved the game for them. Really. Two times. But Chavez made two great plays. Nunez made two good plays coming in on the run. He made that backhand flip going to his left. Early in the game [Justin Snyder] made two good plays. The first baseman [Chris Raber] made a nice pick on a ball in the dirt,” Gillespie pointed out.

“Yeah. For a game that was 4-3 and had hardly any hitting in it, if you’re a baseball fan, I would think you’d enjoy it because in fact the defense was lights out. The only thing that makes it a little negative is we didn’t win.”

Part of the reason they didn’t prevail was the combo of Schindling and eventual winning pitcher Joe Esposito (1-0) were able to keep them at bay. Though they threatened in the seventh and eighth, the relievers were able to get out of it.

When Esposito came on in the eighth, after allowing a leadoff opposite field single to Raber, he buckled down. After a successful D.J. Hollingsworth sac, Esposito fanned Chavez and pinch hitter Austin Krum on a couple of nasty breaking pitches to get out of it.

Bartleski wouldn’t be as fortunate in his third inning of work in the deciding ninth. He allowed a leadoff double to Henson and then Widlansky followed with the biggest hit of the night- a run-scoring single to right which gave the Birds back the lead for good.

In his second inning of work, Esposito retired the Bombers in order, ending it in style by freezing Staten Island DH Damon Sublett on another wicked curve which got the outside corner.

“It came down to the end there,” Aberdeen catcher Brian Bent said. “We got new guys to our team. They came in and threw strikes and got the job done. Worked hard. All night.”

Notes: Despite striking out the only five Ironbirds all night in 2.2 innings, Bartleski took the loss to drop to 1-1 on the season. … Hollingsworth paced the Baby Bombers with two hits in three plate appearances. … Despite seven total runs, the teams combined for only 10 hits. Part of the reason for that many runs were the number of walks (S.I.-10 Abe-3), wild pitches (S.I.-1 Abe-3) and hit batsmen (Abe-3). Due to that, the game took three hours and eight minutes to play. … As part of Friday night, fireworks were on display for fans to see after the game. … Staten Island looks to even the series later tonight (7 PM) at St. George.