(Central Islip, N.Y., July 25, 2012) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 14-1 on Wednesday night in the final game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Dan Lyons talk about the homestand finale
Southern Maryland jumped out to an early lead with 10 runs in the opening inning, highlighted by a three-run homer from Casey Benjamin and a two-run homer off the bat of Brian Barton. Single runs in the second and sixth as well as two in the eighth rounded out the scoring for the Blue Crabs.
Long Island got on the scoreboard in the seventh with Dan Lyons’ RBI groundout to short but could not get closer.
Matthew Vasquez (6-6) picked up the win, tossing seven innings, yielding just one run on five hits while striking out one. Matt Lyons (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on four hits and two walks in one-third of an inning.
The Ducks hit the road for eight games beginning on Thursday night with the opener of a four-game series against the cross-sound rival Bridgeport Bluefish. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m. from The Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Right-hander Mike Loree takes the mound for the Ducks against Bluefish lefty Gilbert De La Vara. Fans can follow all the action live online at LIDucks.com by clicking the Listen Live icon on the homepage. Streaming audio will be provided by iBN, the Internet Broadcast Network.
Long Island returns home on Friday, August 3 to kick-off a nine-game homestand against the Bluefish. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 6:05. The Ducks will be running their Friday Night Pizza Hut K-Man promotion. If the Pizza Hut K-Man strikes out in the game, fans can redeem their game ticket for free breadsticks at a participating Pizza Hut location. 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.
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Duck Tales: Bryant Nelson’s single to right in the seventh inning was the 1,999th hit of his minor league career. The third-year Duck has played in 1,837 minor league games throughout his career, which began in 1994 after being drafted by the Houston Astros…Dan Lyons’ RBI single was his 34th of the season with runners in scoring position and seventh against the Blue Crabs. Entering the game, the shortstop was hitting .357 this season with runners in scoring position and .325 against Southern Maryland…With a strikeout in the ninth inning, Connor Graham has now struck out at least one batter in 15 consecutive appearances. In that span, the right-hander has posted a 1.56 ERA and 23 strikeouts overall…Tonight’s past-capacity crowd of 6,694 was the Ducks’ 11th sold out crowd in 2012. Long Island has welcomed a total of 57,830 fans during the 10-game homestand. In the ten games, the Ducks averaged 5,783 fans, which equates to 96{d19d1e12342262c479f9972a08c42c67c928132b64b850956d7c8317104b5166} of capacity (6,002). Long Island has also welcome 5,000 or more fans in each of their last 22 home games.
GAME DATE: 07/25/2012 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 14 AT Long Island Ducks 1 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Owens CF 4 2 1 2 .243 R.Gorecki CF 3 0 0 0 .264 M.Daniel RF 6 2 2 2 .253 M.Fleishman LF 0 0 0 0 .310 B.Barton LF 5 3 3 2 .324 S.Williams RF 4 0 1 0 .293 C.Benjamin 2B 5 2 2 5 .276 R.Navarrete 2B 4 0 1 0 .309 T.Garcia 3B 4 1 0 0 .163 B.Sing 1B 3 1 1 0 .275 S.Pedroza 1B 4 1 1 0 .156 B.Nelson 3B 4 0 1 0 .261 R.Mercado C 5 1 2 1 .234 T.Perez DH 4 0 1 0 .204 R.Giannotti DH 2 1 1 1 .196 D.Lyons SS 4 0 1 1 .276 P.Osborn DH,PH 2 0 1 0 .300 M.Canham C 3 0 0 0 .219 K.Rios SS 5 1 2 1 .235 K.Binick CF,LF 3 0 0 0 .263 42 14 15 14 32 1 6 1 S Maryland 10 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 - 14 15 0 L Island 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 6 1 2B--M.Daniel 2 (15), K.Rios (8). HR--J.Owens (13), B.Barton (5), C.Benjamin 2 (10). RBI--J.Owens 2 (39), M.Daniel 2 (27), B.Barton 2 (35), C.Benjamin 5 (48), R.Mercado (13), R.Giannotti (22), K.Rios (9), D.Lyons (41). HP--T.Garcia (2), P.Osborn (1). SF--J.Owens (2). E--R.Navarrete (7). LOB--S Maryland 6, L Island 6. DP--K. Rios(SS) - S. Pedroza(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland M.Vasquez (W,6-6) 7.0 5 1 1 1 1 0 4.88 B.Dumesnil 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 0 3.79 9 6 1 1 2 4 0 L Island M.Lyons (L,0-1) 0.1 4 6 6 2 1 1 162.16 E.Niesen 4.2 5 5 5 0 4 1 4.40 J.Lansford 2.0 2 1 1 0 3 1 3.34 A.Benitez 1.0 2 2 2 0 0 1 9.88 C.Graham 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 3.38 9 15 14 14 2 9 4 HB--E.Niesen (3), J.Lansford (3). SO--J.Owens 2, M.Daniel, B.Barton, C.Benjamin, T.Garcia 2, S.Pedroza, P.Osborn, R.Gorecki, B.Sing, B.Nelson, T.Perez. BB--J.Owens, S.Pedroza, M.Fleishman, B.Sing. BF--M.Vasquez 26 (491), B.Dumesnil 8 (167), M.Lyons 7 (7), E.Niesen 20 (191), J.Lansford 10 (130), A.Benitez 5 (72), C.Graham 5 (167). P-S--M.Vasquez 97-61, B.Dumesnil 39-26, M.Lyons 30-17, E.Niesen 62-45, J.Lansford 45-25, A.Benitez 27-19, C.Graham 20-15. T--2:56. A--6694 Umpires: Plate Ump - Mike Terry, Field Ump #1 - Eric Diaz, Field Ump #2 - Pat McLaughlin