The Somerset Patriots have returned home to play the Newark Bears in a five-game series beginning tonight at Commerce Bank Park. The Patriots and Bears are tied atop the Freedom Division with identical 37-28 records, so this series will decide the first half race.
Michael Bumstead (7-5, 5.21) will take the hill for the Bears tonight. Andy Van Hekken was scheduled to start the series opened for the Patriots, but he got picked up by the Houston Astros organization earlier this week. Reliever Byron Batson (0-0, 1.65) will take the hill in his place.
Newark leads the league with a .302 team batting average and is second with 380 runs scored, though their lineup is somewhat diminished with the loss of team RBI leader Cory Aldridge this week. Somerset’s offense falls in the middle of the pack, with a .280 team batting average (5th) and 350 runs scored (5th).
Somerset’s strength this year has been its pitching staff, which is second in the league with a 4.35 ERA. The team survived the loss of Brandon Knight, Bret Prinz and Travis Minix to affiliated ball, but Van Hekken’s departure is likely to hurt an already-thin pitching staff in a 5-game, 4-day series.
Newark’s pitching has been their achillies heal all season. The team’s 5.09 ERA is currently ranked sixth and only Patrick Stanley (8-1, 3.20) has been able to give them consistently good performances in the starting rotation.
Game recap & photos after the jump.
Newark 600 113 000 - 11
Somerset 200 310 000 - 6
Newark took the first game of the series, 11-6. They can now clinch the first half title if they win 2 of the next 4 games. Somerset would need to win 3 of the next 4 to keep that from happening.
The Bears were able to jump out to an early lead tonight, scoring 6 runs on 7 hits in the first inning. Keith Reed hit a home run that may still be flying through the air. Batson retired leadoff batter Mike Just, but allowed the next eight batters to reach base.
When Sparky Lyle brought in Aaron Fultz from the bullpen, it looked like it was a case of too little, too late. Fultz got Just to hit into a double play and the Patriots started to fight back. Brandon Larson hit a two-run homer to cut the deficit to four runs in the bottom of the first.
Fultz gave up another run in the top of the fourth, but Michael Ryan and Ryan Radmanovich added home runs in the bottom of the inning to cut the gap to two runs. The two teams traded runs in the fifth, with Patriot catcher Jason Belcher hitting the team’s fourth home run of the night.
The top of the sixth inning was the turning point of the game, with the Bears scoring 3 runs to go ahead 11-6. Randall Simon’s two run homer to straightaway center field was a crushing blow that the Patriots could not recover from.
Photos from the game:
Somerst starting pitcher Byron Batson
Newark third baseman Mike Just
Somerset reliever Aaron Fultz
Newark starter Mike Bumstead
Somerset center fielder Sean Smith
Newark outfielder Ramon Nivar
