(Central Islip, N.Y., July 24, 2012)
– The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-2 on Tuesday night in the second game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME VIDEO: Mitch Canham’s RBI single and Shawn Williams’ RBI double

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Ray Navarrete talk about the tough loss

Southern Maryland struck first in the opening inning on a RBI groundout to first by Casey Benjamin off Ducks starter Bob Zimmermann. Both teams would exchange zeroes until the sixth when Long Island tied it on a two-out RBI single to center by Mitch Canham off Blue Crabs starter Chris McCoy.

The visitors jumped back on top for good with four runs in the seventh inning courtesy of a two-run single to left by Jeremy Owens and a two-run triple to right-center by Casey Benjamin. Shawn Williams answered with a RBI double to left in the bottom of the inning, but the Ducks could not inch closer.

McCoy (1-0) picked up the win, allowing two runs on 11 hits while striking out two. Zimmermann (4-5) suffered the loss, surrendering five runs (two earned) on seven hits with five strikeouts in six and one-third innings. Jim Ed Warden collected his 11th save with a scoreless ninth.

Williams paced the Ducks with three hits at the plate while Navarrete added two.

The Ducks wrap up their 10-game homestand with the final game of the series against the Blue Crabs 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 a Grucci Fireworks Extravaganza, presented by Flushing Bank. In addition, Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons for discounts at Long Island’s Beachtree Café to fans as they exit the ballpark.

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.

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Duck Tales:
With two strikeouts in the eighth inning, Connor Graham has now picked up at least one strikeout in his last 14 appearances. The righty has posted a 1.65 ERA and 22 strikeouts overall in that span…Ray Navarrete earned his team-leading 20th two-hit game of the year and 27th multi-hit contest in the game. Shawn Williams picked up three hits for the fourth time in 2012 and now has 20 multi-hit games overall…Kraig Binick was hit by a pitch for the 20th time this season, which is tops in the Atlantic League. York’s Danny Gonzalez is second in the league, having been hit 10 ten times this year…With a crowd of 5,808, the Ducks have now welcomed 51,136 fans during the 10-game homestand. In the nine games, the Ducks have averaged 5,682 fans, which equates to 95{d19d1e12342262c479f9972a08c42c67c928132b64b850956d7c8317104b5166} of capacity (6,002). Long Island has also welcome 5,000 or more fans in each of their last 21 home games, including seven past-capacity crowds.

 GAME DATE: 07/24/2012 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5 AT Long Island Ducks 2 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Owens CF 5 2 2 2 .242 R.Gorecki CF 5 1 1 0 .268 M.Daniel RF 4 1 2 0 .252 T.Perez DH 5 0 1 0 .200 B.Barton DH 3 0 0 0 .319 R.Navarrete 2B 4 0 2 0 .310 C.Benjamin 2B 4 0 1 3 .273 S.Williams 1B 5 0 3 1 .294 T.Garcia 3B 3 0 0 0 .171 J.McOwen RF 4 0 1 0 .244 S.Pedroza 1B 2 0 0 0 .143 D.Lyons SS 4 1 1 0 .276 C.Lopez C 4 1 1 0 .218 K.Binick LF 3 0 1 0 .266 R.Giannotti LF 3 0 0 0 .192 M.Canham C 4 0 1 1 .230 K.Rios SS 4 1 2 0 .226 W.Ortiz 3B 3 0 0 0 .245 32 5 8 5 37 2 11 2 S Maryland 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 - 5 8 2 L Island 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 - 2 11 1 2B--R.Navarrete (30), S.Williams (10). 3B--C.Benjamin (6). RBI--J.Owens 2 (37), C.Benjamin 3 (43), S.Williams (36), M.Canham (8). HP--K.Binick (20), W.Ortiz (1). SH--B.Barton (0), R.Giannotti (0). SB--R.Gorecki (15). CS--M.Daniel (4), K.Rios (1). E--C.Benjamin (1), T.Garcia (2), D.Lyons (10). LOB--S Maryland 6, L Island 11. DP--C. Benjamin(2B) - K. Rios(SS) - S. Pedroza(1B), M. Canham(C) - R. Navarrete(2B), K. Rios(SS) - S. Pedroza(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland C.McCoy (W,1-0) 7.0 11 2 2 1 2 0 2.57 C.Mobley 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.16 J.Warden (S,11) 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 7.20 9 11 2 2 1 3 0 L Island B.Zimmermann (L,4-5) 6.1 7 5 2 4 5 0 4.23 J.Hill 0.2 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.66 C.Graham 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.47 J.Lansford 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3.25 9 8 5 2 4 10 0 HB--C.McCoy (1), C.Mobley (2). SO--J.Owens 3, M.Daniel, B.Barton 2, C.Benjamin, S.Pedroza, C.Lopez, R.Giannotti, R.Gorecki, S.Williams, J.McOwen. BB--M.Daniel, T.Garcia, S.Pedroza 2, R.Navarrete. BF--C.McCoy 33 (33), C.Mobley 4 (103), J.Warden 3 (142), B.Zimmermann 29 (504), J.Hill 3 (165), C.Graham 3 (162), J.Lansford 3 (120). P-S--C.McCoy 109-73, C.Mobley 10-7, J.Warden 10-9, B.Zimmermann 112-71, J.Hill 15-11, C.Graham 13-11, J.Lansford 11-8. T--2:50. A--5808 Umpires: Plate Ump - Pat McLaughlin, Field Ump #1 - Mike Terry, Field Ump #2 - Eric Diaz