ONEONTA _ Three hours and 15 minutes worth of back-and-forth baseball couldn't produce a winner Sunday night at Damaschke Field.
With the Oneonta Tigers threatening in the bottom of the 11th inning, clouds that did likewise for most of the night finally let loose as rain and lightning forced a suspension against the Staten Island Yankees.
About 40 of the announced 486 fans remained when public address announcer John Horne said the game, which is tied at 6, would be suspended.
"We had to get the kids off the field with the lightning more than anything else," O-Tigers manager Howard Bushong said.
Oneonta, which failed to hold a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth, put its first two runners on in the 11th. Leadoff man Jamie Johnson drew a four-pitch walk against Yankees reliever Michael Solbach and Michael Rockett grounded an opposite-field single to right to put runners at first and second.
Plate umpire Brian Debraywere called it almost immediately after Rockett's single as rain and lightning quickly became more pronounced. After a 15-minute delay, it was suspended.
That means, for the second time this season, Oneonta will finish a home game away from Damaschke Field.
This past Monday, the O-Tigers traveled to Tri-City to finish a suspended game from the night before at Damaschke Field and lost, 4-1.
The Tigers and Yankees will complete Sunday's game when Oneonta travels to Staten Island on Aug. 24 in the first meeting of a three-game road series. Oneonta will have runners at first and second with none out in the bottom of the 11th and No. 3 hitter Rawley Bishop scheduled to hit.
"I would have liked to finish this because I thought we had a pretty good situation," Bushong said. "It just didn't happen."
Despite a 1-4 homestand that dropped the Tigers to 11-13 at Damaschke Field, Oneonta (27-21) picked up a half-game in the Stedler Division standings Sunday on second-place Lowell (27-23). The Spinners lost, 10-3, to visiting Batavia.
Following an off day today, Oneonta begins a six-game road trip at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday at State College. The Tigers play three games against the Spikes before traveling to Brooklyn for three games. They return home Aug. 19 to start a three-game series against Williamsport.
Bushong said right-hander Jose Diaz (0-0, 7.20 ERA) will start the opening game against State College as the Tigers will look to improve on their 16-8 road record.
It appeared Oneonta was in for a long night Sunday, when Staten Island scored three runs in the first inning against right-hander Jose Siso.
Zoilo Almonte hit an opposite-field double to right with one out before Siso hit Luke Morton.
After Siso struck out DeAngelo Mack on a sharp-breaking curve, Mike Lyon fisted an inside fastball into center field to score Almonte. Justin Milo then pulled a two-run double to right-center.
Siso settled down thereafter, allowing one run over the next four innings.
Oneonta answered with five runs in the first.
Johnson led off with a single to left off left-hander Francisco Rondon, who then walked Rockett.
After Bishop and John Murrian struck out, the runners advanced on a wild pitch. Alexis Espinoza then drove a two-run double down the left-field line. Espinoza moved to third on a wild pitch before Wade Gaynor walked. Keith Hernandez followed with a bad-hop single to right-center. Hernandez's bouncer took a high hop just before it got to second baseman Emerson Landoni as Espinoza scored to tie it at 3.
Carmelo Jaime then turned on an inside fastball from Rondon and sent it over left fielder Milo for a double that scored Gaynor and Hernandez to make it 5-3.
Chad Gross' RBI single in the third pulled to Staten Island to 5-4 and it stayed that way until seventh, when Bishop and Murrian took similar paths to get back-to-back doubles.
With one out, Bishop waited nicely on an 0-1 curveball from Kelvin Perez and pulled it to left. Murrian then drove a hanging curveball to left for a double that scored Bishop to make it 6-4.
It appeared Oneonta would score another run when Gaynor hit a shot to left-center with two out, but Yankees center fielder Almonte made a full-extension dive to rob Gaynor.
"He made a very nice play," Bushong said of Almonte's catch.
Relievers Nate Newman and Kevan Hess shut down the Yankees in innings six through eight.
Newman pitched the sixth and seventh innings, facing the minimum six batters.
After Newman walked Almonte to start the seventh, he picked him off and then struck out Morton and Mack.
Right-hander Hess made it five straight strikeouts in the eighth, setting down Lyon, Milo and Gross, mostly with an impressive fastball.
But Hess found trouble in the ninth.
Carmen Angelini nearly hit Hess' head with a hard single to center to lead off. Hess then got Buck Afenir to fly to right before Landoni hit an opposite-field triple to right to make it 6-5.
Left-hander Kenny Faulk relieved Hess and, with the infield in, Almonte hit a Baltimore-chop single just over the outstretched arm of shortstop Jaime and into left to tie the score at 6.
Catcher Hernandez threw out Almonte attempting to steal second before Faulk struck out Morton looking to end the inning.
"They did a great job," Bushong said of his bullpen. "They did a fantastic job and give the other team credit, too. They got some hits when (Hess) looked really good."
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Rob Centorani can be reached at rcentorani@thedailystar.com or 607-432-1000, ext. 209.
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