By DAN TOMASINO

Last updated: 7:10 am
July 2, 2008
Posted: 3:54 am
July 2, 2008

It's better to be lucky than good, the saying goes. The Staten Island Yankees were lucky and good last night during their 9-4 victory over the Aberdeen Ironbirds at Richmond County Bank Ballpark on Staten Island.

The luck came in the form of three errors by the Ironbirds that opened the door to Yankee rallies in the fourth and seventh. The good was the Baby Bombers' ability to capitalize on those miscues. They left only one runner on base of the 11 that reached.

"That goes along with respecting the game," said second baseman David Adams,a third-round pick in last month's draft who was 1-for-3 with an RBI double off the center-field wall. "If you hustle and play the game hard, things will go your way. The baseball gods will repay you. We've been playing the game the right way, and fortunately for us, we got a few bounces today."

Those bounces came in the fourth inning, when the Yankees (8-7) scored five runs on three hits and two errors, and in the seventh, when they scored four runs on three hits and an error to complete a three-game sweep of the Ironbirds (6-9) and take over sole possession of second place in the McNamara Division of the New York-Penn League behind the Hudson Valley Renegades (9-6).

The Yankees fell behind 3-0 after three innings, but their luck changed in the bottom of the fourth. Shortstop Walter Ibarra (2-for-4, RBI, two runs) led off the inning with a single and Adams followed with a walk. A fielding error by Ironbirds shortstop Tom Edwards allowed Ibarra to score and catcher Brian Baisley to reach base. Third baseman Michael Lyon drove in Adams with an RBI single and the second Ironbirds miscue of the inning - a throwing error by second baseman Eric Perlozzo on a potential double-play grounder by Yankees left fielder Jack Rye - loaded the bases.