BROOKLYN, NY- Coming off a 3-0 victory against the Hudson Valley Renegades last night, the Brooklyn Cyclones would finally get the offensive production they’ve been looking for all season, making use of another solid pitching performance, defeating the Renegades 4-0.

Since making a bevy of roster changes on June 27, the Cyclones have been a changed team, going 2-2 in their past four games. Despite the changes however, the team still hasn’t gotten their act together offensively, failing to score with runners in scoring position, wasting great pitching and causing the team to have a 3-9 record through their first 12 games of the 2006 season.

That wouldn’t be the case tonight however, as Brooklyn center fielder Joe Holden, who didn’t homer at all in 223 at-bats last season, would smash a lead-off homer giving them an early 1-0 lead.

“I had six home runs in Hagerstown [before being sent down to the Cyclones this year] and none here, so it was pretty special,” said Holden.

The Cyclones continued scoring runs in the second, getting a no out, bases loaded double from Dustin Martin, which scored two runs and increased Brooklyn's early lead to 3-0. Renegades starter Ryan Reid would get into even more trouble during the inning, giving up a run scoring single to Luis Rivera before getting Jonathan Schemmel to hit into an inning-ending double play to put the Mets Single-A Affiliate up 4-0 after just two innings

Right-hander Jeramy Simmons would get the start tonight for the Cyclones, looking to continue his winning ways after hurling five scoreless innings against the Renegades on June 28. No longer having to deal with 2006 first-round pick Evan Longoria, who left the Renegades last week after being called up, Simmons (six innings, two runs, none earned) was aggressive on the mound, changing speeds effectively while busting Hudson Valley inside with fastballs and using a variety of breaking balls to finish them off, striking out four Renegades in six innings of work.

“I was talking to our catching coordinator and he was telling me a story that he heard from Greg Maddox about his 3,000^th strikeout, said Simmons. “(He said) to never go for the punch out; that all the strikeouts always come so I was just throwing strikes and they were missing.”

While Simmons would give up two runs on three hits in the top of the fifth, he would throw a scoreless inning in sixth before being replaced by Jeremy Mizell with a runner on first in the seventh. Mizell would need only five pitches to get out of the inning, getting Renegade catcher Ian Paxton to ground into a double play, and would strike out the next batter Jairo De la Rosa, on three pitches.

The Cyclones bats would get considerably cooler as the game went on, but the four runs they scored early would more than suffice as Grady Hinchman, would replaced Mizell in the eighth, would work a scoreless inning with Tim Haines adding a scoreless inning of his own in the ninth, notching his first pro save to seal the deal for Brooklyn.

After the game, Hinchman talked about how dominant the bullpen has been so far this season.

“Lights out man, lights out,” said Hinchman. “It’s good, guys just coming out of college and taking big situations and crowds like this and just running with it.”

Putting his team’s first winning streak of the season into perspective, Cyclones Manager George Greer believes that the team’s hard work this season is just starting to pay off, but feels the team still has work to do in order to stay successful.

“I think you can see the fruits of our labor,” said Greer. “The pitching staff is starting to come together and throw zeros and the hitters are starting to come through in clutch situations; not exactly the way we’d like it, so we’ll have to work a little harder.”