L.I. Ducks: Look Who's Number One

From the desk of:  THE WEBBED SPIKES NINE

Ducks win series over Bluefish 2-1

I - BPT 5; LID 1

II - LID 15; BPT 5

III - LID 10; BPT 9

Long Island leads 2016 Ferry Cup Series over Bridgeport 5-1

Long Island Ducks: Flock Waddles into First Place After Pounding Out Fish at the Pond.

The Flock is waddling strong, and wielding a big stick.

In winning their series against the Bridgeport Bluefish, the Ducks outscored the Fish by a 25-14 margin over the final two games.  In fact, the Long Island Ducks have now scored the most runs in the league, surpassing the Patriots.  Meanwhile, Long Island has now won five of the six games played against Bridgeport this season.

Where has it gotten them?

Answer: atop the Liberty Division ... finally.

The Somerset Patriots, meanwhile, lost Thursday against Sugar Land, thus allowing Long Island to climb atop the division.  The Patriots continue encountering increasingly tougher times of late, losing three in a row, and seven of their last ten games.

Otherwise, I can't help but think of the grief suffered by Ducks fans in recent years ever since league realignment placed the Patriots in the Liberty Division.

I digress...

Thursday Final

Fish       9

Ducks  10

After jumping out to an early four run lead in Thursday's finale, the Ducks were faced with a 9-4 deficit after four innings.  But Long Island clawed back with two runs in the bottom of the fourth, and three more in the fifth to tie the game at nine.

Catcher Mike Dowd's double in the home seventh plated the decisive run in a 10-9 Ducks victory. Dowd went 3 for 4 on the night with three RBI overall.

Fehlandt Lentini went 3 for 5, with a home run and a pair of RBI.  On Tuesday, he went 2 for 5, with a triple and two RBI.  He and Lew Ford are now tied for second in the league with 21 RBI.

After turning in two straight extended effective performances, Starter Darin Down fared poorly during his seventh start of the season, allowing eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits in just 3.2 innings of work.

A crew of six relievers summoned from the bullpen, however, quite literally saved the day with 5.1 innings in which they surrendered one unearned run on just two hits and no walks, with three strikeouts.

Next

New Britain Bees

vs.

Long Island Ducks

FROM

THE POND

The Ducks need relief ... for their bullpen that is.  After Monday's day off, the Bridgeport Bluefish levied a heavy tax on Long Island's bullpen, particularly in Thursday's game.  And the Ducks also have a double-header to contend with on Saturday.

Long Island is in need, then, of lengthy starts from the trio of Bobby Blevins, Jack Snodgrass, and Mark Blackmare, in their upcoming series against the New Britain Bees.

Snodgrass presently leads the circuit with 44 strikeouts, while his staff mate Mark Blackmare is second in the league with a 1.26 ERA.