(Central Islip, N.Y., July 3, 2012) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 6-5 in 10 innings on Tuesday night before a past-capacity crowd of 6,651 at Bethpage Ballpark.
GAME VIDEO: Nelson’s RBI single, McOwen’s RBI double, Williams’ RBI infield single and Fleishman’s RBI single
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Matt Fleishman and Mitch Canham talk about the extra inning defeat
The Ducks struck early for four runs in the opening inning against Blue Crabs starter Hunter Jones. RBI singles for Bryant Nelson and Shawn Williams, a RBI double by James McOwen and a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat of Mitch Canham did the damage. Southern Maryland answered with single runs in the second and third on a run-scoring wild pitch by Ducks starter Bob Zimmermann and a RBI triple by Casey Benjamin.
Southern Maryland took the lead with three runs in the fifth on a run-scoring error, a sac fly to center from Jesse Gutierrez and a RBI double from Matt Padgett. However, Long Island tied it in the sixth on Matt Fleishman’s RBI single to center.
It stayed that way until the 10th inning when a sac fly to center by Kevin Rios brought home Brian Barton, giving the Blue Crabs the lead for good.
Neither starter factored into the decision. Zimmermann threw seven innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits while striking out three, and Jones last five and one-third innings, allowing five runs on six hits. Chris Mobley (2-1) got the win, tossing a perfect ninth inning, while Jeremy Hill (2-2) suffered the loss, allowing a run on two hits and a walk in one inning. Jim Ed Warden earned his sixth save with a scoreless 10th.
Nelson, Canham and Fleishman each had two hits to lead the Ducks.
The Ducks wrap their three-game series with the Blue Crabs and their seven-game homestand on Wednesday night. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 6:05. Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to an Independence Day Grucci Fireworks Extravaganza, presented by Atlantic Honda. In addition, Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for discounts at Long Island’s Beachtree Café to fans.
Tickets for the game and all Ducks home games are available by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark Box Office, calling (631) 940-TIXX, or going online to www.liducks.com. Fans unable to make the game can follow the action live online at LIDucks.com by clicking the Watch Live icon on the homepage. Streaming video and audio will be provided by iBN, the Internet Broadcast Network.
Duck Tales: Matt Fleishman picked up his first career RBI with a single in the sixth. The East Northport native, who earned All-Big East honors this past year at Villanova University, collected his first multi-hit game as well…With two hits, Mitch Canham picked up his second multi-hit game of the year. Ray Navarrete leads the team with 23 multi-hit contests in 2012…Armando Benitez worked his second consecutive scoreless outing by pitching the eighth inning. The 15-year Major Leaguer fired a perfect inning on Saturday against Sugar Land…The crowd of 6,651 was the largest of the season and the eighth past-capacity crowd at the Duck Pond in 2012. The Ducks have hosted past-capacity crowds in five of their last nine games and have drawn 5,500 or more fans in each of the last ten games at Bethpage Ballpark.
GAME DATE: 07/03/2012 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 6 AT Long Island Ducks 5 (EXTRA INNINGS) YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG M.Daniel RF 2 2 2 0 .280 K.Binick CF 5 0 0 0 .273 C.Hu DH 3 1 0 0 .288 D.Lyons SS 4 1 0 0 .274 C.Benjamin 2B 2 0 1 1 .282 R.Navarrete 2B 4 1 1 0 .325 J.Gutierrez 1B 3 0 0 1 .289 B.Nelson DH 5 1 2 1 .264 M.Padgett 3B 5 1 3 1 .259 J.McOwen RF 5 1 1 1 .244 B.Barton LF 5 1 2 0 .294 S.Williams 3B 4 0 1 1 .278 R.Giannotti LF 0 0 0 0 .210 M.Canham 1B 5 1 2 1 .206 R.Mercado C 4 0 1 0 .210 J.Johnson C 3 0 0 0 .199 J.Owens CF 4 0 0 0 .232 M.Fleishman LF 4 0 2 1 .429 K.Rios SS 4 1 2 1 .176 32 6 11 4 39 5 9 5 S Maryland 0 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 1 - 6 11 0 L Island 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 5 9 2 2B--M.Padgett 2 (14), K.Rios (2), J.McOwen (8). 3B--C.Benjamin (4). RBI--C.Benjamin (27), J.Gutierrez (12), M.Padgett (34), K.Rios (2), B.Nelson (43), J.McOwen (23), S.Williams (31), M.Canham (3), M.Fleishman (1). HP--J.Gutierrez (1). SF--J.Gutierrez (3), K.Rios (1). SH--M.Daniel (0), C.Hu 2 (0), C.Benjamin (0), R.Mercado (0). SB--M.Canham (1). E--S.Williams 2 (2). LOB--S Maryland 9, L Island 8. DP--D. Lyons(SS) - M. Canham(1B), D. Lyons(SS) - M. Canham(1B), R. Navarrete(2B) - S. Williams(3B) - M. Canham(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland D.Jones 5.1 6 5 5 4 1 0 5.25 E.Morlan 1.2 2 0 0 0 2 0 2.35 R.Barrett 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.11 C.Mobley (W,2-1) 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.00 J.Warden (S,6) 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9.00 10 9 5 5 4 5 0 L Island B.Zimmermann 7.0 7 5 3 3 3 0 3.77 A.Benitez 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 12.15 J.Hunton 1.0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.51 J.Hill (L,2-2) 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2.97 10 11 6 4 5 3 0 WP--B.Zimmermann (5). HB--B.Zimmermann (9). SO--J.Owens 2, K.Rios, R.Navarrete, J.McOwen 2, S.Williams 2. BB--M.Daniel 2, C.Benjamin 2, J.Owens, D.Lyons, R.Navarrete, S.Williams, J.Johnson. BF--D.Jones 26 (109), E.Morlan 7 (117), R.Barrett 4 (85), C.Mobley 3 (75), J.Warden 3 (121), B.Zimmermann 31 (377), A.Benitez 4 (37), J.Hunton 5 (57), J.Hill 5 (138). P-S--D.Jones 93-56, E.Morlan 21-13, R.Barrett 12-9, C.Mobley 10-6, J.Warden 11-7, B.Zimmermann 95-59, A.Benitez 15-9, J.Hunton 16-7, J.Hill 18-10. T--3:04. A--6651 Weather: Umpires: Plate Ump - Hank Himmanen, Field Ump #1 - Mark Facto, Field Ump #2 - Ronnie Whiting