CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Julio Manon smiled broadly and made his prediction for the elimination Game 5 between his Ducks and Southern Maryland in Tuesday’s Liberty Division Championship Series.
“We’re going to take this,” Manon said after picking up the win in the Ducks 15-5 victory in Game 4 that tied the first-round series at 2-2. “There [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Troy Cate ran to the cooler, grabbed a beer with each hand and sprinted down the hallway to the door leading to the Citibank Park home dugout.
Ducks manager Gary Carter didn’t have a chance to avoid him.
Cate doused the Hall of Famer as soon as he opened the door as the rest [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— The Ducks endured losing its staff ace when Ken Ray’s hot started landed him a minor league contract with Cleveland’s organization in May.
While the Ducks didn’t win the first half division crown, quality pitching propelled the club to a first-place start in the second half. But the Ducks will need to demonstrate [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY- Timely hits marked a potent offense as the Ducks surged to the Liberty Division’s top spot to start the second half.
But starting pitcher Randy Leek was the victim of the Ducks first offensive cold spell since the season’s midway point. Leek limited Bridgeport to just one earned run in striking out a [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Gary Carter’s usual in-game commute entails walking from dugout to home plate before the game and to and from the third base coach’s box.
Carter extended his trip yesterday for two prolonged arguments after the three-man umpiring crew overturned two controversial calls. One call went for the home team and the other helped [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Come the end of the season, Johnny Hernandez’s 11th inning RBI single that lead to a 4-3 win over Bridgeport Thursday night might be a footnote or a key victory that can determine a wild card berth.
In the meantime, the Ducks will settle for a win after trailing 3-0 in the eighth. [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Capacity home crowds helped the Ducks surge to a fast second-half start. But the club figuratively and literally limped out of a disastrous six-game home stand, fishing 1-5 after Southern Maryland scored four times on just one hit in the 12th inning to post a 6-2 victory over the Ducks Thursday night.
The [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— Newark enjoyed a name-recognition advantage entering Sunday’s game against the Ducks, sporting a lineup featuring seven former major leaguers and a starter who also enjoyed success at the top level.
The Ducks countered with just two such players but still put a big league hurting on the Bears, torching six Newark pitchers for [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— All it took was three days for the Liberty Division race to alter course.
Troy Cate looked completely healthy is his second start since returning from a groin injury. The southpaw limited a potent Newark lineup featuring six ex-major leaguers to two hits and one run in five innings to propel the Ducks [...]

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY— In seasons past the fortnight before the All-Star game provided the home Citibank Park clubhouse with the ambiance of an airport terminal.
Players would arrive and depart in whirlwind fashion with then-manager Dave LaPoint seeking to rectify lineup and rotation deficiencies. LaPoint is still in charge of personnel decisions, though the roster movements [...]