LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The Staten Island FerryHawks kicked off a three-game road series against the Lexington Counter Clocks on Tuesday evening and felt good about their chances with ace Christian Capuano on the mound.

And although the Island's pro club hit four homers, they still dropped a 9-7 Atlantic League decision, which dropped their record to 13-25. The home team improved to 19-21.

Capuano entered the game with a 4-1 mark, but was touched for 10 hits and eight earned runs in just four innings of work. The FerryHawks had built a 5-1 lead before the Counter Clocks scored the next seven runs off Capuano to go ahead for good.

The FerryHawks jumped out to 1-0 lead in their first at-bat on Ricardo Cespedes' third homer of the year. The Hawks would add two more runs in the top of the second on recent acquisition infielder Garrett Kueber's first home run of the year.

Staten Island first baseman Luis Castro extended the FerryHawks' lead in the top of the third with his sixth dinger, a two-run shot to right field that gave the FerryHawks a 5-1 lead.

The Counter Clocks touched up Capuano in the home third as Logan Brown launched a three-run homer. Lexington got to Capuano again in the fourth as JC Encarnacion clubbed a two-run homer and Brown hit his second round-tripper of the game and fifth of the season.

Lexington took an 8-5 lead into the top of the fifth, when Staten Island catcher Kevin Krause, a Tottenville HS product, hit his second homer of the year, a two-run shot to left field scoring Jack Elliott.

But that would be as close as the FerryHawks would get as the Counter Clocks added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth.

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NOTES: The FerryHawks face Lexington again on Wednesday and Thursday and then head to Gastonia before returning home for a six-game home stand starting on June 20. On Saturday, June 24, the FerryHawks are set to kick-off summer with their "Kick-Off To Summer Celebration Game" followed by their first post-game firework show of the season. Purchase tickets here for all FerryHawk games or visit www.ferryhawks.com.