It was a gem of a ballgame by Long Island Ducks (21-16) starter Shaun Garceau, who pitched his second complete game shutout against the Lancaster Barnstormers (23-17) in Atlantic League of Professional Baseball action on Wednesday Night.
Lew Ford. Photo by: Stacy Podelski/1495 Sports
The Ducks who earned a 7-1 victory over Lancaster, as the two teams are in the third game of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.
Long Island was able to drive in five runs in the bottom of the Third Inning, as the Captain Lew Ford got the sticks going with a two-run single. Joash Brodin and Randy Ruiz had two-out magic going recording a two-run double and an RBI single respectively.
With his two-run double Brodin extended his on-base streak to 25 games, while Ruiz continues to swing a hot stick for the Ducks.
Ford added onto the Ducks lead in the bottom of the Seventh launching an opposite field two-run homer for the 7-0 lead. Lancaster was able to account for the only run of the night in the Ninth on the solo shot by Amos Ramon.
With three hits in the game, Ford picked up his fifth three-hit game of the year, which ties him with Cody Puckett for the team lead. He now has 16 multi-hit games this season, one more than Puckett for the most on the team. His two-run homer was his seventh of the season, which ties him with Adam Bailey for the team lead.
Puckett meanwhile kept his on-base streak (now at 27 games) alive with a single in the Seventh Inning. That is the longest on-base streak in the Atlantic League this season, two more than teammate Lew Ford’s 25-game streak from May 3 to 30. The second baseman has at least one hit in 23 of the 27 games during the streak
Garceau in the second complete game in 11 days, allowed just one run on seven hits and three walks while striking out nine for Long Island. In his last five starts, Garceau is 4-0 with a 1.85 ERA and 30 strikeouts to just nine walks.
Long Island and Lancaster will complete the four-game set on Thursday night, with the first pitch set for 6:35 p.m. The possible starters for the game may see Ducks righty Fernando Hernandez taking on Barnstormers right hander Mark Rogers.
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