STATEN ISLAND, NY- They waited a little longer to play the first home game of 2008. Following a one hour 26-minute rain delay, the wait would be even longer as a sloppy home opener saw the Verrazano rival Brooklyn Cylones get the better of the Staten Island Baby Bombers 9-4 before a sellout crowd of 7,171 at Richmond County Bank Ball Park in St. George Wednesday night.

A day removed from a more reasonable low scoring 3-1 win in Coney Island, the defending McNamara Division champion Cyclones needed another three hours and 25 minutes to complete a second consecutive victory over the Bombers on what still turned out to be a nice evening once the storm clouds evaporated.

“It was a long game. Even with the rain delay, we knew we’d get it in. We got on the board early. We got on the board late and we got a good win tonight,” one of Brooklyn’s hitting stars third baseman Zach Lutz explained in the winner’s dugout after contributing two hits, two RBI’s along with a couple of runs scored.

The second-year Brooklyn player who missed almost all of last year due to injury got his team started quickly by lacing a one out runscoring double which scored teammate Kirk Nieuwenhuis all the way from first in the opening frame. But an error by shortstop Matt Bouchard allowed Staten Island to come right back with an unearned run thanks to right fielder Dan Brewer’s two out RBI base hit.

After S.I. Yankee starter Luke Greinke tossed a scoreless second, the recently turned 22 year-old younger brother of Kansas City ace Zach ran into trouble by giving up two straight hits to start the third. With new skipper Pat McMahon having the righty on a short leash due to a pitch count, he brought in reliever Jake Shafer.

Unfortunately, the move backfired. During warmups in the bullpen, Shafer couldn’t locate tossing a couple of errant pitches towards the backstop. It foreshadowed a very rough first outing. He faced four Cyclone batters and didn’t come close to retiring anyone. After walking Lutz to load the bases, he hit both Eric Campbell and John Servidio to force in two runs. With a tough capacity crowd getting restless, Shafer lost the plate completely walking Josh Satin to force in another run and put the Bombers in a three-run hole before finally exiting in favor of Brad Rulon.

Though he entered with the bases jammed and nobody out, Rulon did an admirable job limiting the damage on a soft Jefferies Tatford RBI single to left and a Cesar Cordido sac fly.

Still, Staten Island found themselves down 6-1 trying to play catch up which wasn’t easy due to a solid effort from winning Brooklyn starter Tim Stronach (1-0). Though he only got the side in order once, Stronach pitched well with runners on base stranding a couple in scoring position to conclude a scoreless fifth by getting Bomber shortstop Addison Maruszak to bounce into a groundout to third. He worked the first five allowing just one unearned on four hits while walking one and striking out four.

With the pen keeping the Cyclones at bay, the Bombers tried to get back in it chipping away when second-year third baseman Brian Chavez plated two with a two-run opposite field double off Brooklyn reliever Roy Merritt to slice the deficit to 6-3.

“I got jammed a little bit but I was able to get the knock there,” he later said.

It got even more interesting when centerfielder Ray Kruml came up with the bases loaded with two out. But the leadoff man who to that point had reached base three straight times couldn’t deliver striking out swinging to end the threat.

“It was a lefty sidearm guy. I haven’t seen those guys very often. I tried to work the count but [Merritt] threw a good pitch and stuck me out,” Kruml noted. “Hopefully, I can face him again real soon and take advantage of that.” 

Down by three, S.I. got a solid two scoreless from second-year reliever Jacinto Gonell to still give them hope for a late comeback. But after left fielder Taylor Grote worked a walk following a dropped Cordido error, BK’s Rhiner Cruz induced second baseman David Adams into a 6-4-3 twin killing.

Despite four errors, the Cyclones turned just enough double plays to escape innings. On the other side, the Bombers also showed off some leather with a couple of nifty 4-6-3 DPs started by Adams.

It wasn’t enough as Brooklyn put the game away with a three-run ninth including an RBI double by Lutz and a two-run two-bagger by second-year Cyclone Will Vogl off Staten Island’s Drew Shetrone.

A night which began with rain continued to be sloppy till the very end as BK first baseman Nick Giarraputo dropped a routine pop which would’ve finally concluded things. Instead, the Bombers added a final unearned tally on an RBI double just over the third baseline by DH Prilys Cuello.

Cruz got Brewer to pop out to Bouchard to notch his first save.

“It’s the first time we’ve all played together,” added Kruml. “It’s going to take a little time to get all the cranks out. But I think we’ll be alright.”

Notes: The game featured a combined 43 men left on base with Staten Island stranding 21 while Brooklyn left 22. … Due to the lengthy delay and unpredictable game, it didn’t finish till nearly midnight. … Greinke absorbed his first loss working only two innings while being charged with three earned on three hits while walking and fanning a pair. … With two more hits and a walk, Kruml has now reached base six times in the first two games. … Four Cyclones had multi-hit nights including Lutz, Nieuwenhuis, Campbell and Tatford also combining for seven of the nine runs and four RBI’s. … Returning Baby Bombers Matt Morris, D.J. Hollingsworth, Jason Kiley and Nick Chigges all sat out. … Staten Island (0-2) looks to avoid a sweep against their archrivals later tonight back across the bridge at Key Span Park. First pitch is 7:05.