(Central Islip, N.Y., July 22, 2012) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Sugar Land Skeeters 11-7 on Sunday evening in the final game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Nelson talk about the series finale
Sugar Land cracked the scoreboard first with seven runs in the second inning off Ducks starter Chris Flinn. A two-run double by Manny Mejia, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ofilio Castro, a RBI double from Bubba Bell and RBI singles by Dominic Ramos, Josh Pressley and Aaron Bates did the damage. Two more runs in the fourth on another RBI double from Bell and a run-scoring single by Pressley pushed the lead to nine.
Long Island rebounded with two runs off Skeeters starter Michael Nix in the fourth on a two-run home run to left by Ray Navarrete. After Sugar Land scored two in the sixth, the Ducks rallied for a run in the seventh on a sac fly to right by Mitch Canham and four more in the eighth to cut the deficit to four. RBI base hits from Bryant Nelson, Shawn Williams and Reid Gorecki, along with a sac fly by Dan Lyons, highlighted the inning.
Nix (3-7) picked up the victory, allowing two runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in six innings of work. Flinn (0-1) suffered the loss, yielding seven runs on seven hits in one and two-thirds innings.
Nelson’s four hits paced the Flock, while five other Ducks batters collected two hits.
The Ducks continue their 10-game homestand on Monday night as they open a three-game set with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 6:05. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Golf Towels, courtesy of New York 811/Call Before You Dig. Also, be sure to check out the Ducks newest on-field promotion, the White Castle Craver Race. The Original Slider, the Chicken and Cheese Slider and the French Toast Stick will battle for racing glory. Right-hander Nick Singleton will toe the rubber for the Ducks against Blue Crabs lefty Hunter Jones.
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: Ray Navarrete’s two-run homer in the fourth was his 10th of the year, which is second on the team to Brandon Sing (13). The seven-year Duck now has 10 or more home runs in each of the last six seasons and is the franchise leader in longballs with 122…With four hits in the game, Bryant Nelson earned his first four-hit contest of the season. The third-year Duck now has 22 multi-hit games in 2012…With Sunday’s crowd of 5,885, the Ducks welcomed 17,830 fans in the three-game series with Sugar Land. Long Island averaged over 5,943 fans during the series, which equates to 99{8e5351d002774c3933bfda3a977d90beba2633a29eb47eb125265369ce7ef374} of capacity (6,002)…Dan Lyons earned his fourth triple of the season, which equals his mark from all of 2011. The Ducks have now hit 12 three-baggers this season…With an 11-7 final score, 12 of the 13 games played between the Ducks and Skeeters this season have been decided by four runs or less. Seven of those games have been one-run games, with Long Island posting a 5-2 record in those seven contests.
GAME DATE: 07/22/2012 Sugar Land Skeeters 11 AT Long Island Ducks 7 YTD YTD Sugar Land AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG D.Ramos 2B,3B 5 1 2 1 .262 R.Gorecki CF 4 0 2 1 .265 O.Castro 1B,3B 4 1 2 1 .302 T.Perez DH 5 1 2 0 .200 B.Bell CF 3 2 2 2 .302 R.Navarrete 2B 5 2 2 2 .310 M.Hagen RF 3 1 1 0 .233 B.Sing 1B 5 1 2 0 .279 J.Lane DH 4 1 0 0 .311 B.Nelson 3B 5 1 4 1 .261 J.Pressley 1B 4 2 4 2 .286 S.Williams LF 5 1 2 1 .287 I.Suarez 2B,PH 0 0 0 0 .207 J.McOwen RF 4 0 0 0 .244 A.Bates LF 4 1 3 1 .368 D.Lyons SS 3 1 1 1 .276 S.Moss CF,RF 4 0 1 2 .231 M.Canham C 2 0 1 1 .228 M.Mejia C 5 1 1 2 .299 A.Zazueta SS 5 1 2 0 .167 41 11 18 11 38 7 16 7 Sugar Land 0 7 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 - 11 18 0 L Island 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 - 7 16 1 2B--O.Castro (13), B.Bell 2 (25), M.Hagen (10), M.Mejia (4), A.Zazueta (1), B.Nelson 2 (21). 3B--D.Lyons (4). HR--R.Navarrete (10). RBI--D.Ramos (14), O.Castro (32), B.Bell 2 (28), J.Pressley 2 (44), A.Bates (4), S.Moss 2 (19), M.Mejia 2 (13), R.Gorecki (32), R.Navarrete 2 (54), B.Nelson (49), S.Williams (35), D.Lyons (39), M.Canham (7). SF--O.Castro (3), D.Lyons (6), M.Canham (1). SH--D.Ramos (0), S.Moss (0). SB--D.Ramos (5), A.Zazueta (1). E--J.McOwen (5). LOB--Sugar Land 10, L Island 8. DP--O. Castro(3B) - D. Ramos(2B) - J. Pressley(1B), R. Navarrete(2B) - D. Lyons(SS) - B. Sing(1B), D. Ramos(2B) - A. Zazueta(SS) - J. Pressley(1B), D. Ramos(2B) - A. Zazueta(SS) - J. Pressley(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sugar Land M.Nix (W,3-7) 6.0 8 2 2 2 2 1 7.09 R.McKeller 1.2 6 5 5 0 1 0 5.30 J.Frias 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1.50 R.Giron 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.35 9 16 7 7 2 5 1 L Island C.Flinn (L,0-1) 1.2 7 7 7 2 2 0 37.79 J.Lansford 2.1 5 2 2 0 1 0 3.38 D.Meyer 1.2 3 2 2 1 0 0 7.02 C.Graham 1.1 2 0 0 0 1 0 3.57 E.Niesen 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 3.89 J.Hill 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.72 9 18 11 11 4 6 0 SO--D.Ramos, O.Castro, J.Lane 2, S.Moss, M.Mejia, T.Perez, B.Sing, S.Williams 3. BB--O.Castro, J.Lane, I.Suarez, A.Bates, R.Gorecki, M.Canham. BF--M.Nix 25 (243), R.McKeller 11 (254), J.Frias 2 (21), R.Giron 4 (32), C.Flinn 14 (14), J.Lansford 12 (117), D.Meyer 9 (202), C.Graham 5 (159), E.Niesen 4 (167), J.Hill 4 (162). P-S--M.Nix 95-63, R.McKeller 27-20, J.Frias 12-7, R.Giron 13-11, C.Flinn 54-34, J.Lansford 45-28, D.Meyer 26-15, C.Graham 14-10, E.Niesen 20-13, J.Hill 14-10. T--3:24. A--5885 Umpires: Plate Ump - David Mills, Field Ump #1 - Ronnie Whiting, Field Ump #2 - Marty Bauer