Norwich — The Brooklyn Cyclones topped the Connecticut Tigers 7-1 in the first game of a New York-Penn League doubleheader at Dodd Stadium Wednesday night, as playoff hopes continued to dwindle for the Tigers (32-35).

After the opener, the Tigers were 3 1/2 games behind in the wild-card race and were just two games away from being eliminated.

The Tigers scored their only run in the second inning on a two-out single by Tanner Donnels (2-for-3) to bring in Shane Zeile after Zeile doubled. Connecticut starting pitcher Josh Heddinger (2-1) started out well, retiring the Cyclones' first 10 batters, but ran into trouble in the fourth inning, giving up a pair of runs.

Former UConn star Vinny Siena was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for Brooklyn (32-38), which plays at Dodd Stadium again Thursday at 7:05 p.m.