Long Island pulls into first place tie with Bluefish
(Central Islip, N.Y., July 5, 2013) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Bridgeport Bluefish 3-2 on Friday night in the first game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
GAME AUDIO: Josh Barfield’s sac fly, Bill Hall’s two-run homer and the final out
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Bob Zimmermann and Leo Rosales talk about the win
Daniel Mayora opened the game with a solo home run to center off Ducks starter Bob Zimmermann to give the Bluefish a 1-0 lead. Long Island answered with a three-run third inning against Bridgeport starter Hunter Jones. A sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Josh Barfield and a two-run homer to center by Bill Hall did the damage. Alexis Gomez trimmed the lead to one in the seventh with a solo homer to center, but that was as close as Bridgeport would come.
Zimmermann (1-1) earned the win, tossing five innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three. Jones (3-7) took the loss, yielding three runs on five hits with five strikeouts in seven innings. Leo Rosales earned his 14th save with a scoreless ninth, striking out the side to end the game.
Hall led the Ducks with two hits and two RBI.
The Ducks and Bluefish continue their series on Saturday night. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 6:05 as the 2013 Ferry Cup Series continues. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Ducks Travel Mugs, courtesy of EverBank. In addition, Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for $10 off a purchase of $50 or more at Dick’s Sporting Goods as fans exit the ballpark. MLB veteran Dontrelle Willis takes the mound for the Ducks against Bridgeport right-hander and former Duck Mike Parisi.
Tickets for the game and all 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. Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live on the radio home of the Ducks, 103.9-FM WRCN and online, with streaming video and audio available on the Ducks official YouTube channel, http://www.youtube.com/ducksbaseball.
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Duck Tales: Bill Hall’s two-run homer was his seventh of the season and third in the last two games. All seven of Hall’s longballs have come at Bethpage Ballpark. The Ducks have now hit 75 home runs on the year which leads the Atlantic League by one over the Somerset Patriots…Tonight’s start was the first as a Duck for Bob Zimmermann since Game Three of the 2012 Atlantic League Championship Series on October 5. Last year, the right-hander made a team-high 27 starts, leading the Ducks and ranking second in the league with 126 strikeouts. The third-year Duck has now allowed one earned run or less in 10 of his 11 appearances this season…With 10 strikeouts on the night, the Ducks pitching staff increased their season total to 530, the most in the Atlantic League this season. Lancaster ranks second behind the Ducks with 516. Last season, the Ducks pitching staff totaled 932 strikeouts which was third-most in the league.
GAME DATE: 07/05/2013 Bridgeport Bluefish 2 AT Long Island Ducks 3 YTD YTD Bridgeport AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG D.Mayora 2B 4 1 1 1 .325 J.Brodin 1B 4 0 0 0 .331 A.Krum LF 4 0 0 0 .325 J.Barfield 2B 3 0 0 1 .297 P.Redman RF 4 0 1 0 .248 B.Nelson 3B 4 1 1 0 .266 A.Gomez DH 4 1 2 1 .297 B.Hall LF 3 1 2 2 .274 L.Lopez 3B 4 0 0 0 .269 R.Castro C 3 0 1 0 .248 J.Simmons CF 3 0 0 0 .258 A.Bailey RF 3 0 0 0 .260 Y.Carter C 3 0 0 0 .298 R.Navarrete DH 2 0 0 0 .259 V.Diaz 1B 3 0 0 0 .192 K.Binick CF 3 0 0 0 .214 I.Suarez SS 3 0 0 0 .220 D.Lyons SS 3 1 1 0 .216 32 2 4 2 28 3 5 3 Bridgeport 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 2 4 1 L Island 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 x - 3 5 1 2B--P.Redman (19). HR--D.Mayora (4), A.Gomez (6), B.Hall (7). RBI--D.Mayora (28), A.Gomez (39), J.Barfield (15), B.Hall 2 (24). HP--R.Navarrete (5). SF--J.Barfield (2). SB--A.Gomez (13). E--L.Lopez (9), D.Lyons (11). LOB--Bridgeport 3, L Island 3. DP--L. Lopez(3B) - D. Mayora(2B) - V. Diaz(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Bridgeport H.Jones (L,3-7) 7.0 5 3 3 0 5 1 5.59 W.Abreu 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.57 8 5 3 3 0 7 1 L Island B.Zimmermann (W,1-1) 5.0 2 1 1 0 3 1 2.91 E.Niesen 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.84 I.Snell 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 4.25 J.Lansford 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.37 L.Rosales (S,14) 1.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 2.03 9 4 2 2 0 10 2 PB--Y.Carter. HB--H.Jones (3). SO--D.Mayora, A.Krum 2, P.Redman, L.Lopez, J.Simmons 2, Y.Carter 2, I.Suarez, J.Brodin 2, J.Barfield, B.Hall, R.Castro, R.Navarrete, D.Lyons. BF--H.Jones 27 (352), W.Abreu 3 (114), B.Zimmermann 18 (87), E.Niesen 3 (158), I.Snell 4 (122), J.Lansford 3 (119), L.Rosales 4 (121). P-S--H.Jones 94-63, W.Abreu 19-12, B.Zimmermann 70-49, E.Niesen 11-6, I.Snell 17-11, J.Lansford 11-8, L.Rosales 22-16. T--2:37. A--4908 Umpires: Plate Ump - Hank Himmanen, Field Ump #1 - Alan Reyes, Field Ump #2 - Matt Hensel