Right-hander tosses eight strong innings to beat Blue Crabs
(Central Islip, N.Y., May 19, 2014) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-3 on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the series opening win
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Bobby Blevins and Keith Castillo talk about the victory
The Blue Crabs opened the scoring in the top of the second on a run-scoring double play ball. The Ducks answered in the bottom of the frame with a RBI infield single from Ryan Strieby off Blue Crabs starter Brian Baker.
Three more runs in the third put Long Island on top 4-1. Keith Castillo’s RBI single and a two-run base hit by Brendan Harris highlighted the scoring. A sacrifice fly to right by Adam Bailey in the seventh extended the lead to four. Southern Maryland closed to within two in the eighth on back-to-back solo home runs by Craig Ziegler and Jose Julio-Ruiz off Ducks starter Bobby Blevins, but they could not pull even.
Blevins (2-1) earned the win, tossing eight innings, allowing three runs on 10 hits while striking out four. Baker (0-3) was saddled with the loss, surrendering five runs (one earned) on eight hits in six and one-third innings. Leo Rosales earned his ninth save with a perfect ninth inning.
Castillo led the Ducks with two hits while Harris added two RBI.
The Ducks and Blue Crabs continue their four-game set on Tuesday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35. It’s the first-ever Volunteer Firefighter and EMS Night at the Duck Pond. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Coozies, courtesy of Simplex Grinnell. Right-hander Shaun Garceau takes the mound for Long Island against Southern Maryland southpaw Ryan Hinson.
Tickets for the game and every Ducks regular season home games are now on sale. Fans can purchase their tickets by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling 631-940-TIXX or by CLICKING HERE. Those unable to make the game can follow all the action live online. Streaming video and audio will be available on the Ducks official YouTube channel by CLICKING HERE.
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Duck Tales: Lew Ford extended his on-base streak to 15 consecutive games with an infield single in the third inning. That’s the longest by a Duck this season and is tied for the longest in the Atlantic League in 2014. Chad Tracy of York also had a 15-game on-base streak from May 1 to 17. Ford has also now hit safely in seven consecutive games. He previously had a seven-game hitting streak from May 3 through 10…Brendan Harris earned his first two runs batted in as a Duck with a two-run single in the third inning. The former big leaguer had a career-high 81 RBI in 2005 with New Orleans (AAA, Nationals), while his career-best in the Major Leagues was 59 in 2007 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays… Keith Castillo earned his second multi-hit game of the season with two singles. The catcher’s previous two-hit game came on May 3 against York…Leo Rosales picked up his ninth save of the year, which leads the Atlantic League. The next-highest total is six by Rommie Lewis of York. The former Major Leaguer has converted all nine of his save opportunities in 2014 and has a 1.58 ERA in 11 games…Monday’s crowd of 3,727 at Bethpage Ballpark increased the all-time attendance at the Duck Pond to 5,987,201, which is an Atlantic League record. Long Island is now just 12,799 fans away from reaching the magical 6 million fan mark.
Game Date: 05/19/2014 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 3 AT Long Island Ducks 5 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG B.Barton LF 5 0 0 0 .167 F.Lentini RF 5 1 1 0 .266 A.Zazueta SS 4 0 0 0 .289 B.Harris 3B 4 0 1 2 .333 C.Hankerd RF 4 0 2 0 .316 L.Ford CF 3 1 1 0 .376 C.Ziegler DH 4 1 3 1 .263 J.Brodin 1B 3 0 0 0 .230 J.Julio-Ruiz 1B 4 1 1 1 .286 A.Bailey LF 3 1 1 1 .219 D.Sappelt CF 3 1 2 0 .400 C.Puckett 2B 3 1 0 0 .298 J.McDonald 3B 4 0 2 0 .309 R.Strieby DH 4 0 1 1 .206 J.Bowden C 3 0 0 0 .290 K.Castillo C 4 0 2 1 .222 J.Opitz PH 1 0 0 0 .283 D.Lyons SS 4 1 1 0 .263 J.Dziomba 2B 4 0 0 0 .091 36 3 10 2 33 5 8 5 S Maryland 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 3 10 4 L Island 0 1 0 3 0 0 1 0 x - 5 8 2 2B--C.Ziegler (5), D.Sappelt (2), A.Bailey (4), D.Lyons (5). HR--C.Ziegler (5), J.Julio-Ruiz (3). RBI--C.Ziegler (18), J.Julio-Ruiz (10), B.Harris 2 (2), A.Bailey (12), R.Strieby (8), K.Castillo (5). HP--L.Ford (3), J.Brodin (1). SF--A.Bailey (2). SB--F.Lentini 2 (7), J.Brodin (2), C.Puckett (2). E--J.McDonald 3 (10), J.Bowden (2), A.Bailey (1), C.Puckett (3). LOB--S Maryland 7, L Island 8. DP--C. Puckett(2B) - B. Harris(3B) - J. Brodin(1B), D. Lyons(SS) - C. Puckett(2B) - J. Brodin(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland B.Baker (L,0-3) 6.1 8 5 1 0 0 0 3.27 C.Manning 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.38 E.Hamren 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.59 8 8 5 1 1 1 0 L Island B.Blevins (W,2-1) 8.0 10 3 3 1 4 2 3.94 L.Rosales (S,9) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1.59 9 10 3 3 1 6 2 HB--B.Baker 2 (2). SO--B.Barton, C.Hankerd, J.Julio-Ruiz, J.Bowden, J.Opitz, J.Dziomba, K.Castillo. BB--D.Sappelt, C.Puckett. BF--B.Baker 30 (106), C.Manning 4 (36), E.Hamren 3 (46), B.Blevins 34 (137), L.Rosales 3 (47). P-S--B.Baker 81-53, C.Manning 12-7, E.Hamren 14-9, B.Blevins 107-75, L.Rosales 15-10. T--2:39. A--3727 Plate Umpire - Manolo Alejandro, Field Umpire #1 - David Speranza, Field Umpire #2 - Richard Katz