Suero is Brooklyn’s first-half hero

“That was the most important game of my career,” said catcher Chris Suero looking back on his three-run homer that clinched a first-half playoff berth for the Brooklyn Cyclones.

Coming down to the last game of the first half of the season, Brooklyn held a tenuous first place half-game lead over Greensboro until Suero delivered his home run shot over the fence.

With the Cyclones trailing the Ironbirds 4-3 in the eighth inning, Suero stepped to the plate with two runners on base and blasted a high outside fastball over the right field fence that put the Cyclones ahead 6-4. Seeing that the ball was gone, Suero’s teammates surrounded him as he crossed home plate knowing that his blast was the equivalent of a winning walk-off home run even though there was still an inning and a half to play.

Hitting his ninth home run of the year, Suero said that he was elated for what he did for his teammates to clinch the first half. In fact, to close out the Aberdeen series, Suero hit his team-leading 10th home run for a 1-0 win before returning to Brooklyn. Over the course of the Aberdeen series, the Mets’ 20th-ranked prospect went 9-for-19 with two homers, a double and a triple with five runs scored and eight RBIs.

For his offensive performance in Aberdeen, the South Atlantic League recognized Suero as the Player of the Week. This season Suero becomes the third Cyclone player to win the honor, with A.J. Ewing and Jesus Baez winning the title in May.

When asked for his formula for his outstanding performance thus far, Suero simply said, “Every day work hard and keep a consistency.”