Long Island Ducks baseball Lance Davis Road Warriors Atlantic League Brian Bohl

Ducks Dominate Road Warriors

Lance Davis Seeks Playoff Form

by Brian Bohl

September 4, 2007

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— The students who packed Citibank Park are probably lamenting the end of August and summer vacation. But Ducks pitcher Lance Davis couldn’t wait to bypass a forgettable month.

In six August starts, the veteran lefty was tagged for 32 runs while going 2-4 with an ugly 8.07 ERA. Manager Dave LaPoint said the veteran lefty owned the inside track to start in the playoffs, a position that became more tenuous as opponents batted a collective .370 against the ex-Tiger.

In his first start in a new month, Davis (at right) looked like the pitcher who recorded a 5-0 ledger in June and July. He also moved one step closer towards solidifying his spot in the postseason rotation, tossing six shutout innings in a 6-1 win over the Road Warriors last night.

Davis continued the Ducks season-long mastery over the nomadic club, improving his team’s record to 15-1 against the last-place opponent. The win, coupled with Newark’s victory against York, maintained their lead in the North Division at five games and moved the magic number to clinch down to seven.

“The thing about Lance: the last three or four starts, he’s [needed] to get a wisdom tooth out,” LaPoint said. “Tomorrow he’ll get the tooth out and the pain in his head will be gone. It looked like it started to bother him in the game, so that’s why I took him out.”

Two weeks ago, LaPoint said he envisioned Davis, Randy Leek and Donovan Osborne as the starters for the best-of-three opening round series. Leek signed with the Blue Jays’ organization. Osborne continues to be shut down to rest his left pitching arm.

That leaves Davis and newly-signed Bill Pulsipher as the two likely candidates to start the season’s most important games. The two were key members of Long Island’ 2004 Atlantic League championship team. LaPoint served as the pitching coach for that squad. He said that leadership, along Leek’s probable return following the end of the Triple-A season, allows the team to be careful in nursing Osborne back while providing insurance in case the ex-Yankee is not ready in time.

Sitting in his office after the game, LaPoint backtracked slightly from his early statements, saying he hasn’t made a determination. He indicated it was an open competition, keeping the possibility that Ed Yarnall or John Halama could make a case with strong stretch runs.

“We can’t look at that right now. Let’s win the thing first and we’ll make our decisions,” LaPoint said.

Davis (8-4) retired the side in order twice in his six innings. He minimized the damage after allowing five hits and one walk, forcing the Road Warriors to leave five men on base through the first three frames.

Ray Navarrete continued his hot streak, belting a home run for the second straight game. The second baseman finished 2-3 with two runs scored, providing insurance runs via his two-run shot in the fourth off Damien Myers.

Bryant Nelson recorded the game-winning hit, lifting Myers 0-1 offering for a solo home run that landed just to the left of the scoreboard to make it 2-1 in the third. Myers’ record fell to 4-13.

Navarrete engineered the first run, singling in the first and scoring on Carl Everett’s two-out single. That marked Everett’s 91st RBI, tying the former major league All-Star with Francisco Morales for the team single-season record.

Former Cincinnati Red Reggie Taylor was the offensive catalyst, going 3-4 from the leadoff spot in his first home game since joining the Ducks last week. LaPoint said Taylor’s arrival from the Mexican League solidified the top of the order, a position that Jose Offerman solidified until his indefinite suspension last month.

“Playing all summer helps a lot,” said Taylor, who the Ducks obtained by trading Dionys Cesar to the Lancaster Barnstormers. “I think I had about two weeks off to regroup and start all over again. I’ve been swinging the bat. I wasn’t sitting around not doing anything.

“I just got here," Taylor added. " I want to try and help the team as much as I can and hopefully bring a championship back to Long Island.”

Notes: With 24 long balls, Everett is three home runs away from trying that franchise single-season mark…The Ducks are now 39-25 at home this season…It was another sellout, as fireworks night brought in an announced crowd of 6,025…Ben Grezlovski made his 54th appearance. The right-handed set-up man allowed one run in two innings… Only teammate Danny Graves has appeared in more games this season (57) than Grezlovski. The two relievers are 1-2 in the entire league in games logged…Edgardo Alfonzo received the day off. Nelson played short and Kevin Haverbusch made his first appearance of the year at first base.

-30-