Second baseman finishes double shy of cycle in victory

(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 11, 2015) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Sugar Land Skeeters 9-8 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the slugfest

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Lew Ford and Elmer Reyes talk about the win

The Ducks got out to an early lead in the first inning. Lew Ford’s RBI single and a two-run single from Sean Burroughs off Sugar Land starter Miguel Martinez put the Ducks in front 3-0. The Skeeters made it a 3-1 ballgame in the second on Patrick Palmeiro’s solo homer to left off Long Island starter Joe Bircher. Long Island tacked on three more runs in the third on a RBI double from Nelfi Zapata, a RBI triple from Elmer Reyes, and a RBI single from Fehlandt Lentini.

Sugar Land posted six runs in the fourth to take a 7-6 lead. Jeff Dominguez highlighted the scoring with a three-run double to center. Reyes responded with a three-run homer in the fifth off Skeeters reliever James Parr to give Long Island a 9-7 lead. Travis Scott’s solo homer in the seventh off Ducks reliever Bruce Kern cut the lead to 9-8, but Sugar Land could not close the gap.

Kern (9-5) picked up the win. The righty threw three innings of relief, allowing one run on four hits while walking one and striking out three. The loss went to Parr (2-3), who allowed three runs on four hits in one and two-thirds innings. He walked and struck out one. Both starters took no decisions. Bircher surrendered seven runs on eight hits in three and two-thirds innings while walking and striking out two. Martinez tossed three innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on eight hits. Diaz earned his 13th save in the ninth. Ricardo Gomez and J.C. Romero combined to throw one and one-third innings of hitless relief for Long Island.

Reyes finished the day with three hits, including a homer, triple, four RBI and two runs scored.

Long Island continues their series with the Skeeters on Saturday 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). Following the game, all fans in attendance will be treated to the final Pyrotecnico Fireworks Extravaganza of the season, presented by Flushing Bank. It will also be a Dick’s Sporting Goods Saturday at Bethpage Ballpark! Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons with a special offer from Dick’s Sporting Goods to fans as they exit the ballpark following the fireworks show. Southpaw Darin Downs gets the start for Long Island against Sugar Land righty Michael Nix.

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. Those unable to make the game can follow all of the live on the Ducks’ flagship radio station, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. Live streaming video and audio will also be available online via the Ducks’ official YouTube channel by CLICKING HERE.

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Duck Tales: Elmer Reyes launched his third home run in just 10 games played with the Ducks with his three-run blast in the fifth inning. The infielder also went deep on September 2 against Bridgeport and September 7 against Southern Maryland. He finished the night with his first three-hit game with the Flock and first four-RBI contest. The former Atlanta Braves prospect now has four multi-hit games and two multi-RBI contests with Long Island…Lew Ford returned to the lineup for the Ducks for the first time since July 5 after spending two months with Tijuana in the Mexican League. The outfielder finished with two hits and a run batted in to collect his 27th two-hit game and 35th multi-hit contest of the year. Dating back to June 7, the former big leaguer has now reached base safely in 29 consecutive games, the longest on-base streak by a Duck in 2015. During the streak, he is batting .435 with 13 doubles, three homers, 23 RBI and 24 runs…Delta Cleary, Jr. picked up two singles on Friday and has now reached base safely in 25 consecutive games. It’s the second-longest on-base streak by a Duck this year, trailing only Ford’s. During the streak, the outfielder is batting .404 with five doubles, one triple 10 RBI and 16 runs…Sean Burroughs and Fehlandt Lentini each picked up a single to extend their hitting streaks to 10 games apiece. During the streaks, Burroughs is batting .436 (17-for-39) while Lentini is hitting .340 (16-for-47). They’ve combined for 17 RBI and 15 runs during the streak as well…Four Ducks relievers combined to hold the Skeeters to just one run over the final five and one-third innings of the game. Bruce Kern, Ricardo Gomez, J.C. Romero and Amalio Diaz gave up just five hits and four walks in that span while striking out six. Kern collected the victory in his first relief appearance since July 24 at Bridgeport.

 Game Date: 09/11/2015 Sugar Land Skeeters 8 AT Long Island Ducks 9 YTD YTD Sugar Land AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG W.Taveras DH 5 1 0 0 .241 F.Lentini RF 5 1 1 1 .298 J.Dominguez 2B,CF 5 1 1 3 .291 D.Cleary Jr. LF 4 0 2 0 .312 D.Young RF 4 1 1 1 .284 L.Ford CF 4 1 2 1 .366 C.Wallace C 4 1 2 1 .254 R.Ruiz DH 5 1 2 0 .350 T.Scott 1B 5 1 2 1 .258 S.Burroughs 1B 4 0 1 2 .354 P.Palmeiro 3B 4 2 2 1 .241 D.Lyons SS 5 2 1 0 .300 K.Russo CF,LF 4 0 2 0 .244 N.Zapata C 4 1 1 1 .297 R.Osuna 2B,SS 4 1 2 0 .260 C.Puckett 3B 3 1 1 0 .276 D.Almonte PH 1 0 1 0 .205 E.Reyes 2B 4 2 3 4 .325 A.Zazueta SS 3 0 0 0 .259 J.Limonta LF,PH 0 0 0 0 .240 39 8 13 7 38 9 14 9 Sugar Land 0 1 0 6 0 0 1 0 0 - 8 13 2 L Island 3 0 3 0 3 0 0 0 x - 9 14 0 2B--J.Dominguez (13), D.Young (23), C.Wallace (28), R.Ruiz (11), D.Lyons (26), N.Zapata (7), C.Puckett (22). 3B--E.Reyes (1). HR--T.Scott (9), P.Palmeiro (10), E.Reyes (3). RBI--J.Dominguez 3 (23), D.Young (45), C.Wallace (73), T.Scott (47), P.Palmeiro (51), F.Lentini (20), L.Ford (59), S.Burroughs 2 (51), N.Zapata (11), E.Reyes 4 (8). HP--D.Young (6), L.Ford (6), S.Burroughs (2). SH--D.Cleary Jr. (0). CS--K.Russo (2), L.Ford (2). E--R.Osuna (7), A.Zazueta (15). LOB--Sugar Land 11, L Island 9. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sugar Land M.Martinez 3.0 8 6 2 0 1 0 4.50 J.Parr (L,2-3) 1.2 4 3 3 1 1 1 4.67 A.Johnston 1.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.86 A.Martin 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.35 R.Weinhardt 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.10 8 14 9 5 1 2 1 L Island J.Bircher 3.2 8 7 7 2 2 1 17.18 B.Kern (W,9-5) 3.0 4 1 1 1 3 1 3.38 R.Gomez 0.1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 J.Romero 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.03 A.Diaz (S,13) 1.0 1 0 0 2 2 0 1.59 9 13 8 8 6 8 2 WP--B.Kern (5), A.Diaz (4). HB--M.Martinez (1), R.Weinhardt (4), J.Bircher (1). SO--W.Taveras 2, J.Dominguez, C.Wallace, T.Scott 2, P.Palmeiro, K.Russo, R.Ruiz, C.Puckett. BB--W.Taveras, C.Wallace, P.Palmeiro, K.Russo, J.Limonta 2, C.Puckett. BF--M.Martinez 20 (44), J.Parr 9 (194), A.Johnston 5 (221), A.Martin 4 (170), R.Weinhardt 4 (187), J.Bircher 22 (22), B.Kern 13 (410), R.Gomez 2 (5), J.Romero 3 (127), A.Diaz 6 (216). P-S--M.Martinez 53-42, J.Parr 41-25, A.Johnston 18-11, A.Martin 7-7, R.Weinhardt 12-8, J.Bircher 85-53, B.Kern 44-30, R.Gomez 11-4, J.Romero 13-8, A.Diaz 27-13. T--3:13. A--5093 Plate Umpire - JB Torres, Field Umpire #1 - Frank Iurilli, Field Umpire #2 - David Speranza