BROOKLYN, NY - It may have just been a coincidence that Saturday's game against the Yankees was Ladies Night, but the Baby Bums weren't anything like the bunch of strapping young men that have gotten back into the playoff hunt over the past week.

Riding a five-game winning-streak that got them within two games of Staten Island, Brooklyn, who wore pink embroidered letters on their jerseys for the night, looked shy at the plate and confused on the mound, falling 6-1 to their cross-bridge rivals.

“Things didn't go our way today,” said. DH Jordan Abruzzo. “We have to put this game behind us.”

Staten Island got started early after a Marcos Vechionacci RBI single in the first off Brooklyn starter Scott Shaw, who allowed two hits and struck out two in his first inning of work, despite falling behind almost every hitter he faced. Rather than bounce back after getting into trouble like he has most of this season, Shaw continued to struggle in the second and lasted only two outs, after a Taylor Grote RBI double, Addison Maruszak RBI triple and David Adams two-run homer gave the Yankees a 5-0 lead.

“It felt like everything I was throwing, they were hitting,” said Shaw. “It didn't matter where it was.”

Mattias Carrillo was then summoned from the Brooklyn pen and gave up a RBI single to Vechionacci, his second in as many innings, before getting Mitch Albeita out on strikes to end the inning. Things then settled down, as Carrillo hurled four scoreless innings and kept the score 6-0 through the sixth.

The Mets Single-A affiliate's offense couldn't get back in the game however, as Staten Island starter Nick Montgomery was stellar, allowing only three hits in five innings of work. Jacinto Gonell replaced him in sixth and was also solid, keeping the Clones offense at bay through the seventh.

In the seventh, Clones pitcher Jim Fuller then made his first appearance since landing on the DL with a strained left shoulder a few weeks ago and responded with two scoreless innings. Wendy Rosa then pitched a scoreless ninth before Staten Island reliever Jason Kiley allowed a solo-homer from JR Voyles and a pair of hits to Jason Jacobs and Jose Jimenez.

However, the rally fell considerably short after Yanks reliever Brad Rulon came into the game and shut down the potential offense surge, capping off a 6-1 Cyclones loss.

“We had opportunities to get back in the game,” said Cyclones skipper Edgar Alfonzo. “We didn't take advantage of them.”

Now three games back of the Yankees with two games left in the season series, Brooklyn knows the next week will be crucial in assessing their playoff chances.

“We're pretty confident right now despite the loss,” said catcher Ralph Henriquez. “We just have to come back strong.”

Notes-

2006 & 2008 Brooklyn Cyclone Daniel Murphy made his major league debut with the Mets last night, going 1 for 4 with a run scored.

Cyclones first baseman Ike Davis is expected to take fielding and batting practice today. If he then feels up to it, he'll play in today's game.

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