May 28—Wednesday’s rainout in Brooklyn, NY for the Aberdeen IronBirds forced the team into its first doubleheader of the season on Thursday.
The result? Two games and two wins for the ‘Birds over the Cyclones, who improved to 14-7 atop the High-A East, North Division standings. Aberdeen and Brooklyn will play again tonight at 7 p.m.
In game one, a 6-2 win, Grayson Rodriguez improved to 3-0 with a another solid performance. Rodriguez got off to a bit of a rough start, but he settled in for five strong innings. Rodriguez walked the leadoff batter and wild pitched him into scoring position. A single pushed across the Cyclones first run.
From there, though, Rodriguez allowed one other hit, but no more runs, while striking out nine.
Reliever Kade Strowd came on to pitch the final two innings. Strowd allowed four hits, a walk and one run, while striking out two.
Offensively, Aberdeen scored twice in the first inning and twice more in the fourth. The ‘Birds also added single runs in the fifth and sixth innings.
Adam Hall led the offense with two hits and two RBIs. Johnny Rizer hit his third home run, a solo shot, while Shayne Fontana also had an RBI.
In game two, a 10-1 win, Aberdeen jumped all over Brooklyn pitching early, scoring four runs in the second inning and five in the third.
The bottom of the Aberdeen lineup, 6-9 hitters, did the damage.
Andrew Daschbach was 2-4 with five RBIs, while Hall (RBI) and Cody Roberts (three RBIs) both went 3-4. Zach Watson also had an RBI.
Starting pitcher Blaine Knight pitched four and two-third innings. He allowed four hits, one walk and one runs, while striking out six. Knight also hit a batter.
Morgan McSweeney (2-0) tossed an inning and a third in relief for the win. He walked one and struck out one.
Ryan Conroy also pitched an inning, walking one and striking out three.