Meisner Great and Cyclones Win but They're Still Eliminated from the Playoffs

Brooklyn Cyclones @ Staten Island Yankees

September 1, 2014

Casey Meisner @ Sean Carley

Teams	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Brooklyn	0	1	0	0	1	0	1	0	0		3	8	0
Staten Island	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0		1	5	2

Win: Meisner (5-3, 3.75 ERA); Loss: Carley (1-4, 5.48 ERA); Save (15)

MiLB.com Boxscore

The Highlights:

Pitchers

Casey Meisner – 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 3 SO, 5 GO: 4 FO

Brad Wieck (H, 4, 1.40 ERA) – 2 IP, 3 SO, 1 GO: 1 FO

Kelly Secrest (H, 6, 1.82 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 H, R, SO

Shane Bay (1.59 ERA) – 1 IP, 2 SO, 1 FO

Batters

John Mora – 1-4, RBI (5), SO, CS (2)

Amed Rosario – 1-4, 2 SO

Jhoan Urena – 2-4, R, 2 SO

Tomas Nido – 1-4, SO

Adrian Abreu – 1-4, R, 2 SO

Pedro Perez – 1-4, R, SB (3)

Jean Rodriguez – 1-3, 2 RBI (3)

Recap:

            It was a bittersweet victory Monday night for the Brooklyn Cyclones, as they watched the Lowell Spinners come up just short in their 2 out, 9^th inning comeback attempt against the Connecticut Tigers. With the victory, the Tigers find themselves going to the NYPL playoffs as the Wild Card representative, a spot the Cyclones were in control of heading into the final week. If the Cyclones had managed just one victory against Tri-City last week (or against the Tigers at any point), they would have controlled their destiny heading into the final day of the season, but instead it was the Tigers who had that luxury, and this time they made it count.

            Casey Meisner was great over his five innings Monday night, getting ahead in the count often (first-pitch strikes to 13/18 batters), and staying economical with his pitch count. He couldn’t continue his double-digit strikeout streak going, but that may have been a consequence of pitching on the last day of the season. As with the Sand Gnats game in Rome from Monday, the Yankees batters were up there to swing for contact Monday night, leading to more contact early in the at bats. Meisner finishes his season with the Cyclones red hot over his last six starts: 1.51 ERA over 35.2 IP with 31 hits allowed, a 38 SO: 6 BB (26.6 K%: 4.2 BB%) ratio, and a .589 OPS against. From what I’ve heard and read, it seems that Casey has improved his change-up and curveball significantly this season, and that he now feels comfortable throwing all three pitches in any count. It’s great to see how much he’s improved this year, and I look forward to watching him pitch for Savannah to start 2015.

            The Cyclones offense couldn’t get much going Monday night, but they were able to scratch out a run in three different innings, which was more than enough for Meisner and the Cyclones best bullpen arms. Jhoan Urena got the 2^nd inning rally going with a single to CF.

            Tomas Nido followed with a single of his own.

            Sandwiched between two strikeouts, Pedro Perez would reach on a fielding error to load the bases. JC Rodriguez came up with two outs and pulled a single into RF to score Urena from 3B. Unfortunately, Nido was gunned down trying to score from 2B on the play, putting an end to the rally with the top of the lineup due up.

The camera couldn't follow the throw well, but Nido was toast at the plate

            Amed Rosario picked up his 77^th hit with Brooklyn in the 3^rd, good for third best in the NYPL.

            Pedro Perez got the 5^th inning rally started with a single back up the middle.

            After Michael Bernal struck out for the 95^th time this year with Brooklyn (third most in the NYPL), Perez stole 2B and then Rodriguez advanced him to 3B on a groundout. John Mora came up with the big two out hit in the 5^th, which gave the Cyclones some much-needed insurance.

            Urena picked up his league-best 85^th hit in the 6^th.

            Adrian Abreu got the 7^th inning rally started with the only hit of the inning, advancing to 2B on a wild throw from Ty McFarland. Abreu would come home to score later in the inning on a Rodriguez groundout.

            The Cyclones bullpen was equally impressive in the final game of the season, facing just two over the minimum during the final four innings. Shane Bay came in to pick up the save in the 9^th, his 15^th save in 15 opportunities this year – tied (with Carlos Pinales) for most in the NYPL, and the most without a blown save.

Meisner Pitch Coverage

Table 1 – Breaking down pitch count by type and inning           

Count (Strikes)	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	Total
Total	13 (8)	17 (9)	11 (7)	14 (9)	12 (9)	67 (42)

Table 2 – Breaking down pitch results by type

	Strike % Total Call Sw Foul	BIP% LD GB FB PU	Results AB BABIP ISO K
Total	62.7 19.4 9.0 13.4	21 36 29 14	17 .214 .000 3

Given the camera angle available, I left pitch identification up to the broadcasters (both SI and Cyclones)

1^st inning

1)   Collin Slaybaugh struck out swinging (K/Sw)

                                  i.         Outside corner – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Outside – ball 1-1

                               iii.         Outside corner – called strike 1-2

                               iv.         Low and outside – ball 2-2

                                v.         Outer half – foul 2-2

                               vi.         Fastball, outside corner – swinging strike

2)   Billy Fleming hit a groundout to Rosario (63/G)

                                  i.         Outside and low – ball 1-0

                                ii.         Inside corner and low – ball 2-0

                               iii.         Inside corner

3)   Connor Spencer struck out looking (K/Lo)

                                  i.         Fastball, inner half – foul 0-1

                                ii.         Fastball, belt high and outside corner – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         Knee high and outside corner – ball 1-2

                               iv.         Knee high and outside corner – called strike 3

2^nd inning

1)   Chris Breen hit a groundout to Rosario (63/G)

                                  i.         Curveball, knee high over the middle – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Change-up, inside – ball 1-1

                               iii.         Fastball, knee high and inside corner – called strike 1-2

                               iv.         Breaking ball, bounced outside – ball 2-2

                                v.         Breaking ball, high – ball 3-2

                               vi.         Fastball, over the middle

2)   McFarland flied out to Conforto (7/F)

                                  i.         Fastball, inside corner – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Fastball, outside corner – foul 0-2

                               iii.         Fastball, belt high and outside corner – foul 0-2

                               iv.         Outside – ball 1-2

                                v.         Outer half

3)   Luis Torrens walked (BB)

                                  i.         Fastball, low and inside corner – ball 1-0

                                ii.         Fastball, low and outside corner – ball 2-0

                               iii.         Fastball, low and outside corner – ball 3-0

                               iv.         Fastball, very low and outside – ball 4

4)   Isaias Tejeda grounded into a force out (64/G)

                                  i.         Fastball, knee high and outside corner – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Outer half

3^rd inning

1)   Austin Aune flied out to Mora (8/F)

                                  i.         Change-up, knee high over the middle

2)   Vicente Condo struck out swinging (K/Sw)

                                  i.         Fastball, outside corner – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Fastball, outside corner – swinging strike 0-2

                               iii.         Belt high and just outside – ball 1-2

                               iv.         Thigh high and outside – ball 2-2

                                v.         Change-up, belt high and inside corner – swinging strike 3

3)   Slaybaugh popped out to Rosario (6/P)

                                  i.         Fastball, knee high and outside corner – swinging strike 0-1

                                ii.         Knee high and outside – ball 1-1

                               iii.         Fastball, knee high and outside corner – called strike 1-2

                               iv.         Fastball, outside – ball 2-2

                                v.         Knee high and outside corner

4^th inning

1)   Fleming flied out to Bernal (7/F)

                                  i.         Breaking ball, knee high and outside corner – called strike 0-1

                                ii.         Inside corner – foul 0-2

                               iii.         Fastball, high and outside corner – ball 1-2

                               iv.         Knee high and outside corner

2)   Spencer lined a single into LF (S7/L)

                                  i.         Fastball, inside corner – foul 0-1

                                ii.         Knee high and inside – ball 1-1

                               iii.         Fastball, belt high and outside – ball 2-1

                               iv.         Thigh high and inside corner – foul tip 2-2

                                v.         Breaking ball, knee high and outside – ball 3-2

                               vi.         Change-up, outside corner – foul 3-2

                             vii.         Inner half – foul 3-2

                            viii.         Knee high and outer half

3)   Breen hit a grounder to Rosario to start a double play (643/G)

                                  i.         Breaking ball, low and inner half – ball 1-0

                                ii.         Outer half

5^th inning

1)   McFarland blooped a single into RF (S9/L)

                                  i.         Outer half

2)   Torrens lined a single back up the middle (S8/L)

                                  i.         Fastball, belt high and outer half – swinging strike 0-1

                                ii.         Belt high and inner half

3)   Tejeda flied out to Mora (8/F)

                                  i.         Fastball, belt high and inside – ball 1-0

                                ii.         Change-up, inside corner – called strike 1-1

                               iii.         Breaking ball, knee high and outside corner – called strike 1-2

                               iv.         Fastball, thigh high and outside corner

4)   Aune grounded into a force out (46/G)

                                  i.         Outer half

5)   Conde popped out to Urena on the infield grass (5/P)

                                  i.          Knee high and inside – ball 1-0

                                ii.         Curveball, knee high and inside corner – called strike 1-1

                               iii.         Fastball, shin high and inside corner – ball 2-1

                               iv.         Off-speed, over the middle

Great shot of Comet #Oukaimeden by Michael Jäger on Aug 28 Jauerling, #Austria. http://t.co/7uNQOrmU2I pic.twitter.com/oH2lSErJg2
— Epic Cosmos (@EpicCosmos) September 3, 2014