L.I. Ducks ~ Caught in a Maelstrom

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE




LONG ISLAND DUCKS:  The First Eleven Days of the Post Mike Loree Era Have Been Worrisome...At Best.

Long Island's pitching dilemma has now taken a very visible toll on the Ducks.  The Ducks no longer enjoy the lofty perch they've held for quite some time up in the .700 winning percentile.   Two other teams (Bridgeport and York) have joined them in the sixty win bracket, where for so long this season, the Ducks remained far ahead of the pack.


Hoping now, Mother Nature could have interceded a little longer and delayed this tail-spin the Ducks find themselves in, they couldn't avoid getting swept by the Somerset Patriots.  Before tonight, those last three losses in a row complimented a stretch where they lost eight of their last eleven games since losing Mike Loree to the Pirates organization.


Then came tonight.  On this Wednesday night, The Ducks started a road series against the York Revolution.  Ruddy Lugo took another turn on the mound, and promptly suffered his worst outing of the season; and perhaps the worst start to a game for the Ducks all year long.  It most probably ranks up there in all-time bad starts in Long Island history.  Before inducing the Revs into three outs, he walked two batters; gave up nine hits; and surrendered nine earned runs in the first inning of play.  The Ducks pitching gave up 21 hits in all.


The offense stepped in to make a game of it.  But the night ended in a 14-9 final.


In Tuesday's double-header, Mark Diapoules only lasted 4.1 innings, in a decent effort at best; as the Ducks lost 2-0 to Somerset in game one.  The Ducks failed new spot starter Bob Zimmermann who pitched a very good game.  But they dropped game two, 3-2, on their second offensive disappearance for the day.  On Monday, Valerio De Los Santos pitched five innings and gave up three earned runs in a 7-2 loss.  These are pedestrian numbers.  But they represent the absolute best the Ducks can do right now.


So just to update the worsening news, the Ducks are now losers of nine of their last twelve games.  It's official..;  The Ducks are now caught in a maelstrom.




Mike.BTB