MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com – Tyler Kolodny ripped his 10th homer to become the IronBirds' single-season home run king in a 5-1 win over Brooklyn in Aberdeen's final home game of the 2008 season on Tuesday night.

The 20-year-old launched the record-setting long ball into the visitors' bullpen beyond the left field wall off Brooklyn starter Jenrry Mejia with one out in the second inning. Two other IronBirds, Nolan Reimold and Joe Mahoney, each hit nine home runs in 2005 and 2007, respectively.

Aberdeen (35-37) closed out its home slate with a win for the sixth time in seven years, while the victory also gave the club its franchise-record 21st home win of the season and snapped Brooklyn's nine-game winning streak. The 2007 IronBirds had held the record, going 20-18 at Ripken Stadium.

IronBirds starter Cole McCurry found his groove after Kolodny's solo blast put Aberdeen on top 1-0. The left-hander worked around a single and a walk in the top of the third to keep the Cyclones (43-29) off the board and was in the zone the rest of the night, retiring the final 10 batters he faced through the sixth inning.
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McCurry did get a little more support while still on the hill, as Kraig Binick smacked a solo homer to center field to lead off the fourth inning and give the IronBirds a 2-0 advantage.

Ryan O'Shea relieved McCurry to start the seventh and promptly sat the Brooklyn side down in order just before the IronBirds broke the game open in the home half of the frame. Caleb Joseph doubled to lead off the inning and reached third when the next batter, Jacob Julius, pounded out an infield single. Kolodny then hit a chopper just over the head of Mejia, allowing Joseph to hustle in with the IronBirds' third run of the night. Julius moved to third on a groundout by Paul Chmiel on the next play and came in to score when a wild pitch from Mejia went to the screen.

Brooklyn tallied its only run of the night in the eighth against O'Shea, when Wilmer Flores led off with a walk, advanced to third on a double and scored on a groundout by Kirk Nieuwenhuis.

Aberdeen got that run right back, though. Calvin Lester dropped down a bunt single to start the inning and picked up his team-leading 18th stolen base of the season. Lester came around to score three batters later thanks to two Brooklyn errors on back-to-back plays.

IronBirds closer Brandon Cooney plunked one batter and allowed a single but retired the next three Cyclones to end the game.

McCurry (8-3) got the win after giving up just two hits while striking out eight in six scoreless innings. The victory was the first since July 30 for McCurry, who also now holds the team's single-season record for pitching wins.

Kolodny, who collected two RBIs on the night while setting one record, also managed to tie another, striking out two times to bring his season total to 79, putting him in a tie with Tim Gilhooly, who also whiffed 79 times, in 2002.

Mejia (3-2) took the loss, allowing four runs and four hits while striking out seven in seven innings of work.

No player for either team recorded more than one hit in the game.

Aberdeen will close out its 2008 campaign with a four-game road trip. First up is a two-game series in Staten Island that begins at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. Lefty Aaron Odom is scheduled to get the start for the IronBirds.

Box Score: http://ironbirdsbaseball.com/ironbirds/stats/index.html?autoload=boxscore&gid=2008_09_02_broasx_abeasx_1&sportcode=asx

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