Nine-run sixth frame lifts Long Island to blowout victory
(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 2, 2015) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Bridgeport Bluefish 12-0 on Wednesday night in the second game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the offensive explosion
POSTGAME VIDEO: Sean Burroughs, Fehlandt Lentini and Darin Downs talk about the victory
The Ducks scored the first run of the ballgame in the third when Fehlandt Lentini hit a RBI single to center off Bluefish starter Robert Carson. A pair of back-to-back solo homers in the fifth extended the lead to 3-0. Elmer Reyes and Fehlandt Lentini did the damage.
Long Island put up nine runs in the sixth. Reyes brought in two runs on a double, Lentini hit a RBI single to right, Delta Cleary, Jr.’s RBI groundout scored a run, and Sean Burroughs hit a two-run single to make it 9-0 Ducks. Anthony Vega’s bases-clearing double capped off the inning and put Long Island in front 12-0. Four Long Island pitchers combined to hold the Bluefish scoreless through nine innings.
Ducks starter Darin Downs (4-4) picked up the win, firing six shutout frames and allowing three hits. He walked none and struck out seven. Carson (5-3) suffered the loss, giving up three runs on eight hits in five innings of work while walking two and striking out six. J.C. Romero, Mariel Checo, and Ryan Kussmaul allowed a combined two hits in three innings of relief in place of Downs to finish off the win.
Lentini finished the game with three hits, including a homer, three RBI, and two runs scored. Burroughs also picked up three hits, driving in two runs and scoring one as well.
The Ducks and Bluefish complete their three-game set on Thursday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). The first 1,500 kids 12 and under in attendance will receive Back to School Lunch Boxes, courtesy of SCOPE Education Services. It will also be a Thirsty Thursday at the Duck Pond! The Duck Club Restaurant/Bar, normally reserved for VIP/Season Ticket Holders only, will be open to all fans during the game! Righty John Brownell takes the ball for the Ducks against Bridgeport southpaw Matt Iannazzo.
Tickets to the game and all Ducks home games are available by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE. It’s the “Ducks Game of the Week,” and fans can follow all of the action live on the Ducks’ flagship radio station, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. Streaming video and audio will be available online by CLICKING HERE.
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Duck Tales: Delta Cleary, Jr. connected for two more hits on Wednesday and has now hit safely in 17 consecutive games. That is tied for the longest hitting streak by a Duck this year, accomplished by Dan Lyons from August 8-24. During the streak, the outfielder is batting .427 (32-for-75) with three doubles, one triple, six RBI and 13 runs scored…Elmer Reyes’ solo home run in the fifth inning was his first homer with the Ducks. It came in his third game with Long Island, after joining the team on Sunday. Reyes hit one homer in 30 games earlier this season with Triple-A Gwinnett in the Atlanta Braves organization…Fehlandt Lentini’s solo homer in the fifth was his second with the Ducks this season. His first came on August 24 at Bridgeport. Reyes and Lentini became the first Ducks to hit back-to-back home runs in a game this season. As a team, Long Island has now gone deep 76 times in 2015…Long Island’s nine-run sixth inning was tied for their largest run-scoring inning this season. They had previously scored nine runs in an inning twice, doing so in the fourth inning on June 5 at Camden in game two of a doubleheader and in the fourth inning on May 20 at York. The Ducks’ 16 hits were two shy of their season high of 18, which they accomplished on both June 20 against Bridgeport and May 18 at Lancaster…Nelfi Zapata collected a single and has now reached base safely in 15 consecutive games. During the streak, he is batting .367 (18-for-49) with six doubles, seven RBI and five runs scored. Zapata also has a hit in seven straight games and in 14 of his 16 games played with Long Island…Darin Downs tossed his third consecutive quality start and fifth in his last six outings. In those six starts, he is 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs in 38 innings of work. In that span, he has yielded 30 hits and 17 walks while striking out 31. The southpaw has lowered his ERA from 5.60 to 3.72 in those six starts and has given up three runs or less in seven of his 10 starts with Long Island. His seven strikeouts on Wednesday was a season-high.
Game Date: 09/02/2015 Bridgeport Bluefish 0 AT Long Island Ducks 12 YTD YTD Bridgeport AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG B.Sabatella LF 4 0 1 0 .277 F.Lentini RF 5 2 3 3 .301 J.Prince 2B 3 0 0 0 .269 D.Cleary Jr. CF 5 0 2 1 .309 W.Dotel RF 4 0 2 0 .338 D.Lyons SS 3 1 0 0 .306 A.Rodriguez 1B 4 0 1 0 .239 C.Hughes PH,SS 1 0 0 0 .188 W.Batista 3B 4 0 0 0 .248 M.Blanke DH 2 1 0 0 .287 J.Morales C,DH 4 0 1 0 .251 S.Burroughs 1B 4 1 3 2 .352 J.Valdez SS 4 0 0 0 .229 S.McQuail 1B 1 0 1 0 .168 L.Rodriguez C 2 0 0 0 .219 C.Puckett 3B 4 2 2 0 .276 M.Burns PH 1 0 0 0 .191 N.Zapata C 5 1 1 0 .346 C.Povich P 0 0 0 0 .000 A.Vega LF 4 2 2 3 .272 W.Perez P 0 0 0 0 .000 E.Reyes 2B 3 2 2 3 .300 E.Chapman CF 3 0 0 0 .247 33 0 5 0 37 12 16 12 Bridgeport 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 5 1 L Island 0 0 1 0 2 9 0 0 x - 12 16 1 2B--B.Sabatella (20), W.Dotel (26), S.McQuail (2), A.Vega 2 (8), E.Reyes (1). HR--F.Lentini (2), E.Reyes (1). RBI--F.Lentini 3 (14), D.Cleary Jr. (35), S.Burroughs 2 (46), A.Vega 3 (24), E.Reyes 3 (3). HP--J.Prince (4). SH--A.Vega (0), E.Reyes (0). SB--E.Chapman (9), F.Lentini (5), S.Burroughs (3). CS--F.Lentini (3). E--S.Shuman (2), D.Downs (1). LOB--Bridgeport 7, L Island 8. DP--R. Carson(P) - J. Prince(2B) - A. Rodriguez(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Bridgeport R.Carson (L,5-3) 5.0 8 3 3 2 6 2 2.97 S.Shuman 0.1 4 6 5 1 0 0 3.18 E.Mozeika 0.1 2 3 0 2 1 0 10.12 C.Povich 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 0 6.32 W.Perez 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 8 16 12 8 5 8 2 L Island D.Downs (W,4-4) 6.0 3 0 0 0 7 0 3.72 J.Romero 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.03 M.Checo 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 R.Kussmaul 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.06 9 5 0 0 0 9 0 WP--E.Mozeika (2). HB--D.Downs (2). SO--B.Sabatella, A.Rodriguez 2, W.Batista, J.Morales 2, J.Valdez 2, E.Chapman, D.Cleary Jr., M.Blanke, S.Burroughs, C.Puckett, N.Zapata 2, A.Vega, E.Reyes. BB--D.Lyons, M.Blanke 3, C.Puckett. BF--R.Carson 23 (257), S.Shuman 7 (72), E.Mozeika 5 (18), C.Povich 5 (149), W.Perez 4 (8), D.Downs 23 (235), J.Romero 4 (110), M.Checo 3 (3), R.Kussmaul 4 (216). P-S--R.Carson 103-63, S.Shuman 24-13, E.Mozeika 20-8, C.Povich 18-13, W.Perez 10-7, D.Downs 106-69, J.Romero 25-19, M.Checo 11-7, R.Kussmaul 15-12. T--3:06. A--4437 Plate Umpire - Richard Katz, Field Umpire #1 - JB Torres, Field Umpire #2 - Fred DeJesus