2018 Game 4: Ducks at Patriots

After taking two of three in Maryland to begin 2018, the Ducks visit the Somerset Patriots

GAME TIME/LOCATION:

6:35 p.m. at TD Bank Ballpark (Bridgewater, N.J.)

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP:

The Long Island Ducks and Somerset Patriots are set to open up their three-game series. The Ducks head to Somerset with a 2-1 record and look to hand the Patriots their first loss of the young season after Somerset swept the Road Warriors last weekend. This will be the first of 18 scheduled meetings between the Ducks and Patriots this season and the 346th all-time matchup between the two teams. Long Island leads by just one game all-time with a 173-172 record against the Patriots, but Somerset has defended TD Bank Ballpark with an 89-81 record against the flock at home. The two teams met in the Liberty Division Championship Series last season, with the Ducks advancing in four games.

LAST GAME RECAP: 

The Ducks’ offense continued to roll on Sunday afternoon, putting up five runs in the first inning en route to a 7-4 victory over the Blue Crabs and claiming their first series win in 2018.

Following up a 12-2 victory is no easy task, but the Ducks were able to jump on Brandon Cumpton quickly thanks to singles from Jordany Valdespin and Tyler Holt right out of the gate, with Valdespin coming around to score following a David Washington single. Perhaps the most important play of the inning spawned from the hustle of the 6’5″ Washington, who beat out a force play at second following an Audie Afenir ground ball. With the bases loaded and two outs, Alec Sole drew a walk to bring home Travis Snider, then Dan Lyons cleared the bases with a double off the left-field wall. A four-run two-out rally gave John Brownell a sizable 5-0 cushion before he stepped on the mound for the first time in 2018.

Brownell allowed a run in his first inning of work, but the Ducks made up for it in the very next inning, with Jordany Valdespin smacking a triple to right center over the glove of Cory Vaughn. Travis Snider was able to advance him 90 feet with a double down the right-field line.

The Blue Crabs cut the lead to two in the third inning following a fielder’s choice and a two-run single by Johnny Bladel after the bases were loaded due to several fielding mishaps from the Ducks.

Long Island was able to knock starter Brandon Cumpton out of the game in the middle of the fifth inning thanks to an Alec Sole single that scored Travis Snider from second, pushing the score to 7-4.

The score remained the same for the final four frames after great work from Ducks relievers Matt Marsh, Rob Rogers, Wander Perez and Vinnie Pestano, who earned his first save as a Long Island Duck. The bullpen limited the Blue Crabs to just four hits for the remainder of the game. John Brownell struck out four and earned his first win as a player-coach despite allowing four runs over five innings of work, while Brandon Cumpton took the loss after seven runs came across over four and two-thirds innings.

SUNDAY’S HIGHLIGHTS: 

ON THE MOUND:

Andrew Barbosa will return to the mound for the Ducks for the first time since 2015 on Sunday. The 6’8″ Puerto Rican had great success during his first stint on Long Island, going 4-1 over nine starts with a 2.82 ERA and striking out 59 batters over 51 innings. The performance caught the eye of the Atlanta Braves, who purchased his contract and assigned him to Double-A Mississippi for the remainder of the season. Barbosa had a great 2016 in the New York Mets organization, dealing a 1.51 ERA across four levels in the organization, including Triple-A Las Vegas. The Florida resident then spent last season exclusively with Triple-A Colorado Springs of the Milwaukee Brewers organization. Barbosa owned a 7-3 record primarily out of the bullpen last year with a 5.29 ERA and 65 strikeouts over 66 and one-third innings. In his lone appearance against the Patriots in 2015, Barbosa tossed seven shutout innings and struck out 10 batters en route to a 3-0 victory.

For the first time in 2018, the Ducks will face a starter who has not reached the major league level. Rick Teasley will take the rubber for the Patriots to start the series, returning for his second season with Somerset. Teasley was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2013, then spent 2014-2016 with the Southern Illinois Miners of the Frontier League, amassing a 28-14 record with a 3.67 ERA and four complete-game shutouts over the three seasons. The lefty is the Miners’ all-time leader in innings pitched and shutouts, and even tossed a no-hitter during his time there. Teasley was used both as a starter and reliever by Somerset last season, making 10 starts across 14 appearances. The Florida native was named an Atlantic League All-Star, posting a 7-2 record with a 2.85 ERA but struck out just 49 batters over 75 and two-thirds innings before his contract was purchased by the ChinaTrust Brothers of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in July. Teasley is 1-0 in three appearances against Long Island, allowing only four runs over 18 and two-thirds innings along with 13 strikeouts.

FOLLOW ALONG: 

Fans can follow all the action for tonight’s game, and every Ducks game in 2018, on the Long Island Ducks Broadcast Network. Live streaming HD video and audio via BoxCast will be available on the team’s official Facebook page through Facebook Live, on the Ducks’ official YouTube channel and at LIDucks.com in the Ducks Video Center on the homepage. In addition to updates in this post, fans can follow a pitch-by-pitch account of tonight’s game via Pointstreak’s Game Live application by CLICKING HERE.

DUCKS GAME NOTES: 

For tonight’s full Ducks game notes, please CLICK HERE.

STARTING LINEUPS:

Long Island Ducks
#15 Jordany Valdespin – 2B
#5   Tyler Holt – CF
#23 Travis Snider – RF
#20 Lew Ford – DH
#30 David Washington – 1B
#2   Cody Puckett – 3B
#28 Daniel Fields – LF
#9   Wilkin Castillo – C
#12 Dan Lyons – SS

#21 Andrew Barbosa – LHP

Somerset Patriots
#20 Julio Borbon – CF
#47 Endy Chavez – RF
#1   Justin Trapp – 2B
#40 Kyle Roller – DH
#18 Alex Castellanos – 3B
#17 Danny Dorn – LF
#7   Aaron Dudley – 1B
#4   Yovan Gonzalez – C
#8   Alfredo Rodriguez – SS

#37 Rick Teasley – LHP

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LIVE GAME UPDATES:

UPDATE (6:38): We are currently experiencing technical difficulties with our broadcast. We will provide updates as soon as possible. Stand by.

UPDATE (6:41): TOP 1: A triple by Jordany Valdespin and an RBI single by Tyler Holt has given the Ducks an early 1-0 lead!

UPDATE (6:44): TOP 1: Lew Ford adds a sacrifice fly to increase Long Island’s early lead to 2-0!

UPDATE (6:51): BOT 1: Andrew Barbosa retires the Patriots in order in the bottom of the first inning!

UPDATE (7:33): MID 4: The Ducks hold a 3-0 lead in the middle of the fourth inning. Dan Lyons added a sacrifice fly in the second inning for Long Island.

UPDATE (8:03): BOT 5: Somerset closes to within 3-2 on a throwing error by Barbosa and an RBI groundout by Endy Chavez. We apologize for the inconvenience due our broadcast technical difficulties and appreciate your patience.

UPDATE (8:08): TOP 6: Ford crushes a solo blast over both sets of billboards in left field! His first home run of 2018 increases the Ducks lead to 4-2.

UPDATE (8:10): MID 5: Both starters’ nights are complete. Here are their final lines:
Barbosa: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Teasley: 4.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

UPDATE (8:25): TOP 7: Valdespin continues his stellar start to the year with a two-run single to left! Ducks now lead 6-2!

UPDATE (8:44): BOT 7: Patriots get both runs right back on a two-run home run to right off the bat of Julio Borbon. 6-4 Long Island.

UPDATE (9:20): FINAL: Vinnie Pestano works a 1-2-3 ninth inning, and the Ducks take the series opener against the Patriots, 6-4, for their third consecutive win! Thank you to everyone for their patience as we battled through some technical issues tonight. We hope to have everything fixed up before Wednesday night’s game.