Ducks swept by Charleston as Dirty Birds feast on LI pitching
Long Island Ducks starting pitcher Kyle Lobstein delivers a pitch against the Charleston Dirty Birds, Sunday, August 20, 2023 at Fairfield Properties Ballpark in Central Islip. Credit: George A Faella
The Ducks gave Charleston plenty to hit on Sunday night, as the Dirty Birds recorded 18 hits in a 14-6 win at Fairfield Properties Ballpark.
Ducks starter Kyle Lobstein allowed nine runs and 12 hits through five innings. Ruben Tejada and Jonathan Guzman committed fielding errors that led to runs during that span.
The Ducks trailed 9-2 when Lobstein left the game. Jack Anderson later allowed five runs, six hits and a walk in 1 1⁄3 innings of relief.
”We didn’t locate pitches,” manager Wally Backman said. “To me, there’s no excuse for it. They were prepared, we had our meeting, we talked about every hitter they have and how we wanted to pitch them, but we have to execute.”
Charleston swept the Ducks in three games, handing them their fourth three-game sweep of the season and first since July 11-13.
The Dirty Birds had 33 runs and 45 hits in the three-game series. ”They were hitting .230 as a team coming in,” Backman said. “No, it’s not that good of a lineup. But they were for three days.”
Tom Hackimer and Jake Fishman secured scoreless innings in relief for the Ducks. Hackimer completed his inning in eight pitches.
”I faced all righties, which is a huge advantage for me,” Hackimer said. “I go in there assuming the main thing I have to do is keep the ball in the zone and I trust that the catchers know what to call.”
Charleston scored three runs in the first inning and added another to build a 4-0 lead in the second. After one-out singles by Wilson Ramos, Joe DeCarlo and Guzman, Ernie Geraci’s RBI single and Brantley Bell’s run-scoring forceout made the score 4-2 in the bottom of the inning.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Alejandro De Aza nearly gave the Ducks the lead, but his fly ball was caught just in front of the warning track in centerfield.
Charleston tacked on two more runs in the fourth before Dwight Smith Jr. hammered a three-run homer in the fifth to give the Dirty Birds a 9-2 lead.
De Aza cleared the right-centerfield fence in the bottom of the fifth to make the score 9-3. Charleston’s Telvin Nash hit a solo homer to rightfield to spark a five-run eighth that put the Dirty Birds ahead 14-3.
Bell singled to rightfield to drive in Guzman in the bottom of the eighth. Alex Dickerson hit his team-leading 20th homer, a two-run shot, in the ninth to make the score 14-6.
