Sean Burroughs plates winning run with eighth inning single
(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 24, 2015) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Somerset Patriots 5-4 on Thursday night in Game Two of the 2015 Liberty Division Championship Series at Bethpage Ballpark. The teams are now tied in the best-of-five series one game to one.
GAME AUDIO: Highlights from Game Two of the LDCS
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Darin Downs, and Sean Burroughs talk about the victory
Long Island posted the game’s first run in the second. Cody Puckett’s sacrifice fly off Patriots starter Mickey Storey put the Ducks in front 1-0. In the fourth, a pair of runs extended the lead to 3-0. A sacrifice fly from Dan Lyons and a RBI single to left from Puckett padded the Ducks’ advantage.
It stayed that way until Somerset took a late lead with four runs in the eighth. Robert Andino’s RBI single off Ducks reliever Ricardo Gomez made it a 3-1 ballgame. Ducks first baseman Sean Burroughs then made a run-scoring error before Matt Fields hit a two-run double to left to give the Patriots a 4-3 lead. The Ducks responded in the bottom of the inning, as Patriots reliever Daniel Sattler threw a run-scoring wild pitch to tie the game at four. Burroughs’ RBI single to right with two outs in the frame put the Ducks back in front 5-4.
Romero (1-0) picked up the win, allowing one unearned run on one hit in one and two-thirds of an inning. He walked and struck out one. Sattler (0-1) suffered the loss. He surrendered one run on a walk in one-third of an inning. Both starters took no decisions. Downs went seven innings and did not allow a run, giving up two hits and two walks while striking out seven. Storey finished with seven and one-third innings pitched, giving up four runs on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Burroughs had three hits to pace Long Island, including the game-winning RBI single. Randy Ruiz had a pair of hits and two runs scored in the win as well.
The Ducks now travel to New Jersey for the remainder of the best-of-five Liberty Division Championship Series, beginning with Game Three on Friday night. Game time from TD Bank Ballpark is slated for 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Bobby Blevins gets the start for Long Island against Somerset southpaw Matt Zielinski. Fans can follow all of the action live on the Ducks’ flagship radio station, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. Live streaming audio will also be available online by CLICKING HERE.
Should the Ducks advance, they would return home on Wednesday, September 30, for Game One of the Atlantic League Championship Series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). Tickets to all potential Ducks home playoff games are available by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE.
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Duck Tales: With the victory, the Ducks earned their fifth consecutive win in Game Two of a postseason series. The Ducks had taken Game Two of both playoff series in both 2012 and 2013 en route to back-to-back Atlantic League championships. All-time, the Ducks improved their record in Game Two matchups to 7-7, including a 5-4 mark at home…Darin Downs turned in yet another quality start with seven scoreless innings, taking a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Dating back to the regular season, the southpaw has tossed six consecutive quality starts. In that span, he has compiled a 2.61 ERA, allowing just 11 earned runs in 38 innings of work. He’s yielded 32 hits and 11 walks in that span while striking out 35 batters. Dating back to August 6, Downs has made eight quality start sin his last nine outings…Sean Burroughs picked up three hits for the second consecutive postseason game. In the playoffs, the former big leaguer has six hits in eight at-bats with one double, two RBI and one run scored. Burroughs collected seven three-hit contests during the regular season and finished with 15 multi-hit games overall.
Game Date: 09/24/2015 Somerset Patriots 4 AT Long Island Ducks 5 YTD YTD Somerset AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG Andino, R SS 3 1 1 1 .125 Lentini, F RF 3 1 0 0 .375 Eggleston, A LF 2 1 1 0 .500 Cleary Jr., D LF 2 0 1 0 .400 Neal, T DH 2 1 0 0 .200 Ford, L CF 4 0 0 0 .000 Burgess, M RF 4 0 1 1 .500 Ruiz, R DH 3 2 2 0 .429 Fields, M 1B 4 0 1 2 .286 Vega, A DH,PR 0 1 0 0 .000 Vidal, D C 4 0 0 0 .125 Burroughs, S 1B 4 1 3 1 .750 Hopkins, G 3B 4 0 0 0 .000 Lyons, D SS 3 0 0 1 .167 Spears, N 2B 4 0 0 0 .000 Puckett, C 3B 2 0 1 2 .167 Tucker, J CF 2 0 0 0 .167 Blanke, M C 1 0 0 0 .000 Linton, O CF,PR 1 1 0 0 .000 Reyes, E 2B 3 0 0 0 .125 30 4 4 4 25 5 7 4 Somerset 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 - 4 4 0 L Island 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 x - 5 7 2 2B--Fields, M 1B (1). RBI--Andino, R SS (1), Burgess, M RF (4), Fields, M 1B 2 (3), TOTALS 4 (0), Burroughs, S 1B (2), Lyons, D SS (1), Puckett, C 3B 2 (2), TOTALS 4 (0). HP--Blanke, M C (2). SF--Lyons, D SS (1), Puckett, C 3B (1). SH--Eggleston, A LF (0), Cleary Jr., D LF (0). SB-- Linton, O CF,PR (1), Vega, A DH,PR (1). CS--Cleary Jr., D LF (1). E--Burroughs, S 1B (1), Blanke, M C (2). LOB--Somerset 5, L Island 4. DP--N. Spears(2B) - R. Andino(SS) - M. Fields(1B), N. Spears(2B) - G. Hopkins(3B) - M. Fields(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Somerset Storey, M 7.1 6 4 4 3 5 0 4.91 Sattler, D (L,0-1) 0.1 0 1 1 1 1 0 27.03 Little, C 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 8 7 5 5 4 6 0 L Island Downs, D 7.0 2 0 0 2 7 0 0.00 Gomez, R 0.1 1 3 2 1 0 0 18.00 Romero, J (W,1-0) 1.2 1 1 0 1 1 0 0.00 9 4 4 2 4 8 0 WP--Storey, M (1), Sattler, D (1), Downs, D (1). PB--Blanke, M. HB--Storey, M (1). SO--Neal, T 2, Fields, M 2, Vidal, D 3, Spears, N, Lentini, F, Ford, L 2, Lyons, D, Blanke, M, Reyes, E. BB--Andino, R, Neal, T 2, Tucker, J, Lentini, F, Cleary Jr., D, Ruiz, R, Blanke, M. BF--Storey, M 29 (29), Sattler, D 2 (2), Little, C 2 (2), Downs, D 25 (25), Gomez, R 4 (7), Romero, J 7 (8). P-S--Storey, M 106-68, Sattler, D 10-4, Little, C 10-5, Downs, D 104-66, Gomez, R 20-9, Romero, J 20-13. T--2:44. A--3320 Plate Umpire - Derek Moccia, Field Umpire #1 - Matt Criss, Field Umpire #2 - David Speranza, Field Umpire #3 - Fred DeJesus