Weary Ducks routed by Blue Crabs, look forward to off day before hitting the road
Lew Ford of the Ducks gets a base hit in the ninth inning against the York Revolution at Bethpage Park on Sunday. Credit: Daniel De Mato
If there’s anything that Wednesday night’s 9-1 loss to the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in front of 4,888 at Bethpage Ballpark proved, it’s that the Ducks are in desperate need of some rest.
They have played 23 games in 22 days and haven’t had a scheduled off-day since July 16. Their last day without a game, July 24, came courtesy of a rainout in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. So, in many ways, an off-day Thursday comes at the perfect time.
The Ducks, who begin a six-game, seven-day road trip Friday in New Britain, Connecticut, have lost two straight and four of their last seven.
“We need a day to just mentally clear our heads,” said Lew Ford, who went 0-for-2 with a run scored in the loss. “Guys have been grinding it out. We’ve been playing very well in the second half, but the off day is definitely needed.”
The Ducks, who had only one hit, scored their lone run on Dioner Navarro's sacrifice fly in the second inning. Blue Crabs starter David Wayne Russo went six innings, allowed one run and one hit with five strikeouts and four walks.
“He was effectively wild, but at the same time, pitched well,” Ford, who is also the team’s hitting coach, said. “We have a good offense and to hold us to one hit is a really good job by him.”
Ducks starter Jake Fisher turned in his worst outing in nearly two months. The lefty allowed seven runs (six earned) and nine hits in 5-plus innings. He struck out four and walked none.
“I just didn’t have my stuff and didn’t feel like my body was there,” Fisher said. “It’s been a long summer and those days are going to happen … It was just a dead-body day and that’s all I can chalk it up to.”
Fisher continued: “Guys are going to hit balls when you leave them up and over the plate. When you can’t execute the finer pitches and you can’t hit your spots, that’s going to happen. I’m not a guy that’s going to go up there and blow people away by any means. I don’t throw 95-100 mph. I throw mid-to-upper 80’s and sometimes get in the low 90’s. Today was a slower day. I really needed to focus on spotting up and it wasn’t happening.”
Fisher retired the first six batters of the game before running into trouble in the third inning. Cory Vaughn led off the top of the inning with a single and scored after consecutive doubles from Craig Maddox and Angelys Nina. After Nina’s double, Ryan Strausborger’s sacrifice fly gave the Blue Crabs a 2-1 lead.
Southern Maryland scored three more runs in the fourth after a two-run home run from Frank Martinez and a Strausborger RBI single. The Blue Crabs added two runs in the sixth and two in the eighth off the Ducks bullpen
The Ducks (22-13) have a chance to put some major ground between themselves and the New Britain Bees this weekend, which would greatly impact the wild-card race, should that come into play. The Ducks currently hold the second wild-card spot, two games ahead of the Bees. If both first half champions, the Somerset Patriots and Sugar Land Skeeters, win their respective divisions in the second half, two wild-card teams would make the playoffs.
The Liberty Division second-half race is very much up for grabs, with the Ducks holding a two-game lead over the Patriots and the Skeeters holding a five-game lead in the Freedom Division after the final out. Because of this, a two wild-card team scenario is very much in play.
