STATEN ISLAND, NY- Sometimes, a team can draw extra motivation from seeing a former player honored.

That might’ve just been the case Saturday night as the Baby Bombers honored current Yankee second baseman Robinson Cano in fitting fashion with a well earned 7-3 victory over Lowell to take the rubber game of the series that sent many of the 5,031 at Richmond County Bank Ballpark home happy.

Before the game, the former Staten Island product who starred on the 2002 Penn League championship team with last year’s retiree Chien-Ming Wang made it back from the Bronx in time to be presented with a plaque commemorating his No.17 jersey which was retired during a pregame ceremony.

“It was fun. I never met Robinson before but some of the guys know him from playing down in Spring Training. It kind of gave us motivation,” expressed right fielder David Williams after finishing with a hit. “You see he’s been here. He’s done well and he’s where we want to be. So inspiration for all of us.”
More importantly, it helped Staten Island (25-19) bounceback from a 7-2 loss Friday night and stay in a deadlock for the wildcard lead with the Spinners (25-19), just half a game better than Oneonta (25-20) who fell to division leading Brooklyn 7-2.

“It’s definitely important to take the series. We played well. Got good pitching and timely hitting. So definitely a good series,” noted designated hitter Chris Raber outside the dugout after finishing the night with two hits and two runs scored.

“It was a big win coming back from yesterday. We kind of let it go and it was good to get the series,” added Williams. “A lot of good teams that we’ve been playing real well last two, three series. I mean we’ve played Oneonta twice. I think we pretty much match up with anyone in the league.

“Just a matter of us putting our game together. We played good defense. We pitched a heck of a ball and we hit pretty good too.”

Despite two miscues in the field, Staten Island turned in several defensive gems including a couple of running catches by outfielders Austin Krum and Taylor Holiday plus a nice diving stop for a force by second baseman Damon Sublett, who returned after missing the first two games of the series. He also started a game ending 4-6-3 twin killing to stop a Lowell bases loaded threat as closer Jonathan Ortiz picked up winning pitcher Craig Heyer (3-0) to notch save number seven.

“The defense was outstanding with turning a couple of double plays,” Raber added.

That wasn’t the only thing the Bombers were able to execute well in the win. Back up two after a sixth inning Justin Snyder RBI double which scored Raber all the way from first, Staten Island tacked on a run without a ball leaving the infield the following inning.

A one out walk to third baseman Ryan Wehrle opened the door. D.J. Hollingsworth then pinch ran for him and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He then stole third before coming home to score two batters later on a perfectly executed squeeze by Krum.
“It’s good to take two of three from these guys and hopefully go into Hudson Valley and keep this streak up,” said Hollingsworth after utilizing his speed to manufacture a little insurance.

“Mike [Gillespie] said he needed me to get to second and hopefully third base. So I did get to third base and they talked to Austin before he went to the plate to be ready for the squeeze. He put it on in a perfect situation and it worked out very nicely.”

After a scoreless eighth from Heyer, the Bombers added one more in the home half thanks to Sublett leading off the frame on a walk and going to third on a Braedyn Pruitt single through the hole. Williams then grounded into a 1-6-3 twin killing which scored Sublett to make it 7-3.

But the game was far from over as Lowell threatened enough in the ninth to force Gillespie to take the ball from Heyer and go to his stopper. With the tying run at the plate twice, Ortiz calmly got Rafael Cabreja swinging and then got just what he needed when Carlos Fernandez-Oliva bounced into a game ending double play.

“He’s unbelievable. I obviously seen Ortiz while in extended Spring Training. Very quiet. Doesn’t really say much. Didn’t throw many innings cause there were a lot more guys there,” Hollingsworth said.

“He’s came out here and just done absolutely outstanding. Closing the door. Coming in with no one on. With people on. Just throwing all his pitches just throwing strikes and doing good things for us.”

“Our pitchers did a good job of staying on top and that helps out because you’re always staying active. That always helps when they throw strikes,” added Wehrle.

Notes: The first 1,500 fans 14 and under took home an autographed Cano poster. … Raber and Snyder led a balanced S.I. attack with two hits apiece. Seven batters registered at least one hit. … The game took a lengthy three hours and 28 minutes due to some sloppiness in the field as the teams combined for five errors (Low-3, SI-2). They also left a combined 63 runners on including almost half coming from Staten Island despite taking their sixth in nine. … Bombers finished their homestand 4-2 and will now travel to Hudson Valley for two of three with one home game Monday night.

One other positive was the effort of starter Ryan Pope, who went the first four and two thirds permitting two unearned on five hits while walking a batter and fanning four.

“Not too bad. I felt good but I could do better,” he noted despite being unable to go the full five to qualify for the win. “I wish I could’ve gone the extra batter but my pitch count got a little too high for me and I had to use too many pitches and I couldn’t help myself out that third time.”

It’s taken a couple of outings but the righthander is coming around.

“The first couple of starts, I was adjusting to my environment and what I was going through from college to now but I feel pretty comfortable with where I’m at now and with what kind of competition I’m seeing.”