Long Island Ducks: They are now tied for first after defeating Somerset

On Tuesday night, the Long Island Ducks and Somerset Patriots began the 2018 chapter to their storied rivalry. On this night, the Ducks were able to grab the win. They won 6-4 as Andrew Barbosa would pitch five innings, giving up 1 run on two hits, walking two Patriots, and striking out six. Apart from Rob Rodgers giving up the two runs, the Ducks bullpen continued to be dominant. Between Tolliver, Perez, Marsh, and Pestano; the bullpen would end up pitching 4 innings, giving up the two runs by Rodgers, walking one, and striking out six. If this bullpen continues to be as dominant as they have been throughout the season, then it gives manager Kevin Baez a nice option.

Due to having a rather shut down bullpen, he just needs to get the pitcher to the fifth inning with a lead. Once that happens, then he can turn it over to the bullpen. However, you don’t want to do this every game because you will burn them out. While the bullpen has been great so far, we can’t forget about the hitting. For starters, Jordany Valdespin continues to be hot right out of the gate. In the game on Tuesday, he had four at-bats, driving in one run on two hits.

[JonBlayneAds] What makes this Ducks lineup tough for opposing teams is that you tend not to know where the hitting will come from. In addition, with the bats all clicking for the Ducks, it is making it tough for managers because they are going through the bullpen faster. It’s worth mentioning that with the Ducks getting the 6-4 win over the Patriots, they are now tied for first place. They can take full control of first place with a win either Wednesday or Thursday. Like I said in my preview of this series, it will be great for the Ducks to come home on Friday being in first place.

Game 2 of this three-game set is Wednesday night at 6:35 pm.

[JonTwitter] [matchedcontent]