STORMERS DROP SECOND STRAIGHT

Early Barrage Boosts Staten Island to  7-4 Win

The Staten Island FerryHawks reached Oscar De La Cruz for seven runs in a three-innings stretch early Sunday evening to topple the host Lancaster Stormers, 7-4, at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

With the loss, the Stormers fell into second place, one-half game behind York in the North.

After Isan Diaz belted a solo homer in the first to stake De La Cruz (3-3) to the early advantage, Alejandro De Aza leveled the game with a solo shot in the second.

It was the third inning that spelled doom for the Stormers.  It all started when De La Cruz hit Kolby Johnson with an errant two-strike breaking ball.  Johnson promptly stole second and scored when Luis Castro grounded a single into right.  Pablo Sandoval’s grounder up the middle sent Castro to third, and Ben Norman’s sacrifice fly to left made it 3-1.  Calvin Estrada then reached the right field deck for a 5-1 cushion.

RBI singles by Sandoval and Estrada in the fourth extended the lead to 7-1.

Meanwhile, Noe Toribio (2-2) kept Lancaster in check.  The right-hander limited the host club to four hits and a run over 5 1/3 innings.  He walked three and struck out six.

Lancaster’s bullpen combined to toss five scoreless innings to give the Stormers a chance, and they made noise over the final two innings.  Diaz keyed a two-run eighth with a double to deep left center.  Joe Stewart opened the ninth with a triple to the same zone and scored on a grounder by Shawon Dunston, Jr.

The Stormers will open a three-game series at Hagerstown on Tuesday with lefty Brady Tedesco on the mound.  Mike Kickham (5-11) is the anticipated starter for the Flying Boxcars.  Fans may tune into FloBaseball at 6:25 to catch the action.

NOTES:  De La Cruz had an ERA of 1.53 in his previous five starts…He became the first starter since July 20, other than for rain or on short rest, not to last five innings…Lancaster relievers struck out eight in the final three innings…Diaz is 5-for-8 with four extra base hits and five RBI in his last two games…Stewart’s triple was his third in 68 at bats…The game was delayed 10 minutes by rain after 3 ½ innings.