Ducks held to just one hit in pitcher’s duel

(Central Islip, N.Y., July 31, 2013) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 1-0 on Wednesday night in the third game of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Ray Navarrete talk about the game

Southern Maryland scratched across the only run of the game in the fourth inning. Renny Osuna doubled to lead off the inning, and Jose Salas drove him home with a RBI single three batters later. Long Island would put the tying run on to lead off the ninth inning but could not pull even.

Wade Korpi (3-4) earned the win for the Blue Crabs, yielding just one hit and two walks with three strikeouts in five and two-thirds innings. Matt Way (3-5) started for the Ducks and took the hard-luck loss, allowing one run on two hits while striking out four in four innings of work. Jim Ed Warden earned his 25th save with a scoreless ninth.

The Ducks and Blue Crabs wrap up their four-game set on Thursday night. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at a special time of 5:10 for a charity softball game between the New York Police Department and the Suffolk County Police Department/Suffolk County Corrections. It’s also Prostate Cancer Awareness Night at the ballpark. Join the Ducks and Ed Randall’s “Fans for the Cure” as they team up in the fight against Prostate Cancer. Right-hander John Brownell takes the mound for the Ducks against Blue Crabs lefty Michael Ballard.

Tickets for the game and all Ducks regular season home games are now on sale. Fans can purchase their tickets by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling 631-940-TIXX or by CLICKING HERE. Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live online, with streaming video and audio on the Ducks official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ducksbaseball.

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Duck Tales: Ray Navarrete played in his 900th career Atlantic League game by starting at first base on Wednesday night. That’s the second-most all-time in Atlantic League history behind Somerset’s Jeff Nettles, who played in 1,006 career Atlantic League games…For the second consecutive night, the Ducks bullpen threw five scoreless innings of relief. Bill Murphy, Josh Lansford, Ian Snell and Jared Lansford allowed seven hits and one walk in those five innings while striking out three batters. In the last two games, the Ducks bullpen has threw 10 scoreless innings, yielding only nine hits and three walks while striking out nine…Matt Way started for the first time since July 1 on Wednesday night. He has allowed just three earned runs in two starts against the Blue Crabs this season, posting a 2.45 ERA.

 GAME DATE: 07/31/2013 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 1 AT Long Island Ducks 0 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Owens CF 4 0 1 0 .229 J.Brodin LF 4 0 0 0 .315 B.Barton LF 5 0 2 0 .275 K.Binick CF 2 0 1 0 .250 R.Osuna 3B 5 1 2 0 .302 B.Nelson 3B 4 0 0 0 .285 C.Nicolas DH 4 0 1 0 .211 B.Hall DH 4 0 0 0 .273 A.Colina C 4 0 0 0 .235 R.Castro C 3 0 0 0 .251 J.Salas 1B 3 0 2 1 .259 A.Bailey RF 2 0 0 0 .259 W.Sutil SS 4 0 0 0 .285 R.Navarrete 1B 2 0 0 0 .230 J.Opitz 2B 4 0 1 0 .277 P.Phillips 2B 3 0 0 0 .232 S.Smith RF 3 0 0 0 .229 D.Lyons SS 3 0 0 0 .219 36 1 9 1 27 0 1 0 S Maryland 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 1 9 0 L Island 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 1 0 2B--R.Osuna (17), J.Opitz (8), K.Binick (6). RBI--J.Salas (40). HP--K.Binick (3). SB--J.Owens (16), K.Binick (3). LOB--S Maryland 11, L Island 4. DP--W. Sutil(SS) - J. Salas(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland W.Korpi (W,3-4) 5.2 1 0 0 2 3 0 4.58 J.Conley 1.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 E.Morlan 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.75 C.Manning 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 2.25 J.Warden (S,25) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1.30 9 1 0 0 3 6 0 L Island M.Way (L,3-5) 4.0 2 1 1 2 4 0 4.45 B.Murphy 2.0 3 0 0 0 2 0 5.86 J.Lansford 1.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 3.67 I.Snell 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5.08 J.Lansford 1.0 1 0 0 1 1 0 3.57 9 9 1 1 3 7 0 HB--W.Korpi (5). SO--J.Owens, B.Barton 2, W.Sutil, J.Opitz, S.Smith 2, J.Brodin, B.Nelson, B.Hall 2, R.Castro, A.Bailey. BB--J.Owens, J.Salas, S.Smith, K.Binick, A.Bailey, R.Navarrete. BF--W.Korpi 21 (252), J.Conley 4 (22), E.Morlan 2 (149), C.Manning (159), J.Warden 3 (177), M.Way 16 (278), B.Murphy 9 (365), J.Lansford 5 (120), I.Snell 4 (169), J.Lansford 5 (172). P-S--W.Korpi 89-50, J.Conley 17-12, E.Morlan 10-9, C.Manning 6-3, J.Warden 13-8, M.Way 59-39, B.Murphy 33-20, J.Lansford 14-9, I.Snell 16-11, J.Lansford 21-14. T--2:51. A--5137 Weather: Umpires: Plate Ump - Hank Himmanen, Field Ump #1 - Allan Reyes, Field Ump #2 - Matt Hensel