The Somerset Patriots are the first half champions of the Freedom Division. I have some photos from this weekend’s games after the jump, and Mike Ashmore has some lockerroom quotes over at AtlanticLeagueBaseball.com.

The race came down to the final game of the half after the Patriots and Newark Bears spilt a doubleheader on a marathon day of baseball Saturday. I spent about half of a 30-hour stretch between Saturday afternoon and Sunday evening at Commerce Bank Park in Bridgewater. I can only imagine how the players and team employees felt.

This is the view I had from the concourse shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Saturday. The rain lasted long enough to delay the scheduled start of the first game of the doubleheader by almost two hours.

The Patriots dugout, shortly after 5 p.m. Frank Brooks (center, with the mohawk) appears to be playing air guitar to whatever was playing on the P.A. system. Note all of the standing water.

Check out the standing water near the Bears’ bullpen around 6:20 p.m. There were a few other spots along the warning track with standing water, but this was the worst. The rain is finally slowing down.

6:22 p.m. — The tarp is off the field, the grounds crew is busy prepping for play and some of the fans are heading to their seats. The umbrellas are still out, though.

7:05 p.m. — We’re under way. Brian Adams is on the hill, and he pitched effectively. Unfortunately, the Patriots couldn’t score enough runs and managed to strand 11 runners on base in a seven inning game.

7:12 p.m. — After a quick top of the first, Jose Garcia takes the mound for the Bears. Garcia constantly worked out of jams, limiting the Patriots to just 2 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks.

7:17 p.m. — One of Teuris Olivares’ bats bites the dust.

7:57 - A fragment of a rainbow is visible above the stadium.

8:34 - The Patriots celebrate Michael Ryan’s solo home run.

Kevin Tapani is best remembered as a Minnesota Twin, but he got his start with the New York Mets in 1989. He pitched in three games — all in relief — before being included in the Mets’ trade for Frank Viola.

David West was supposed to be the key player in that trade for the Twins, but Tapani actually had a much better career. West lasted 10 years in the big leagues and finished with a 31-38 record with a 4.66 ERA. Tapani pitched for 13 years and had a 143-125 record with a lifetime 4.35 ERA.

(Viola pitched for the Mets for parts of three seasons, compiling a 38-32 record. His best season in New York was 1990, when he won 20 games.)

While Viola, West and even Jack Savage (a throw-in in the trade who never pitched a game for the Mets in the Major Leagues) all have major-issue cards featuring them in Mets uniforms, the only baseball card evidence that Tapani ever wore the blue and orange is this card from the 1991 Wiz Mets stadium giveaway set.

The Patriots (or the Bears) could wrap up the first half Freedom Division title tonight with a sweep of the doubleheader. The two teams spilt a pair of slugfests to open the series, so they remain tied with identical 38-29 records.

Brian Adams (5-3, ) and Josh Brey (2-0, ) will pitch for the Patriots today against Newark’s Jose Garcia (2-2, ) and Franklin Gracesqui (0-3, ). Adams and Gracesqui are listed for game one, with Brey and Garcia scheduled for the nightcap.

Notes:

• There is a 30% chance of rain tonight, but hopefully the teams can get both games in without any significant holdups.
• The Patriots have hit 14 home runs in the first four days of July. Vito Chiaravolloti (14) and Brandon Larson (13) are third and fourth in the Atlantic League home runs.

The Patriots need to rebound from last night’s loss if they want to win the first half Freedom Division title. Steve Kelly (4-4, 4.73) will take the mound for the Patriots against Newark’s Benito Baez (4-2, 3.41).

Momentum and the pitching matchup seem to favor the Bears, but tonight’s game is a must-win for the Patriots. If Somerset can’t win tonight, they’d have to go 3-0 in the final three games of the half to win the playoff spot.

The Patriots rebounded and blew out the Bears tonight, 10-1. (I missed the game to attend a 4th of July barbecue, so don’t look for a detailed recap or photos.)

Steve Kelly was clearly the player of the game. He pitched a complete game 6-hitter, limiting the Bears to just 1 run. Not only did he virtually shut down the Bears’ offense, he allowed Sparky Lyle to rest his bullpen in advance of tomorrow’s double header.

The Patriots’ offense tonight came mainly via the longball. Sean Smith (6), Michael Ryan (12), Teuris Olivares (2), Brandon Larson (13), and Josh Pressley (11) all hit home runs. I’m still a bit worried about Somerset’s ability to advance runners and score without hitting home runs, but now the first half is down to a best of three series over the next two days. Hopefully the Patriots can pull it off.

Jeff Duncan made his Major League debut for the New York Mets in 2003. Duncan was a fun player to watch because he always hustled and made some great defensive plays.

However, aside from a brief stretch in July when he collected 12 hits in 11 games, Duncan never displayed the ability to consistently hit Major League pitching. In 154 at-bats over parts of two seasons, Duncan batted just .182 with one home run and 11 RBIs.

Although he never played in the big leagues again after 2004, Duncan continued his career in the minor leagues. Last year, while playing for the Syracuse Sky Chiefs, Duncan ran full speed into the outfield wall trying to make a play. The injury ended his season and threatened his career.

During the winter, Duncan signed with the Somerset Patriots. He was involved in a scary early-season collision with teammate Michael Ryan and he never seemed to completely recover.

Duncan retired after playing in just 16 games for Somerset. He batted .148 with one home run, five RBIs and two stolen bases.

Duncan was nice enough to sign the 2008 Somerset Patriots team set card I mailed to his home, completing my set this year.

Last night’s game was a disaster for my Somerset Patriots, but at least my night had a bit of an upside: I got quite a few autographs from the Newark Bears before the game.

Steve Kent signed my custom photo card for me… I still have to make one for him in a Bears uniform, though. He also signed a trio of 2002 cards from when he was a Tampa Bay Devil Rays prospect:

Note the nearly identical photos on the Fleer cards. I love the retro designs of the 2002 Donruss Originals set, but that is a terrible photo of Steve Kent. (Though since it’s on a replica of a 1982 Donruss card, I suppose it is appropriate ) Did they even have “Rated Rookies” in 1982?

Carlos Mirabal also signed a custom photo card.

Former Orioles prospect Keith Reed also signed a bunch of cards for me, but most of them will be heading back to other collectors. This 2000 Topps Traded card is the only one that will be going in my collection.

I also got about half of the team to sign their 2008 team set cards, but I’ll save those until I have a chance to scan and post the whole team set.

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

Tony Armas Jr. is the newest New York Mets player. Last night, despite a rocky start, Armas made a good impression. After giving up three runs in the first two innings, Armas managed to stay in the game through six and limit the Cardinals to just one additional run en route to his first Major League victory of the year.

Armas has spent parts of 10 seasons in the big leagues, most of that time with the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals. With last night’s victory, Armas has a 53-65 career record with a 4.63 ERA.

The autographed card at right, a 2005 Fleer Tradition, was obtained through the mail during spring training this year.

Bret Prinz earned a World Series ring in his rookie season with the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. He went on to play for several other teams in the majors, including the New York Yankees.

This winter, Prinz took a job with the Somerset Patriots. During the first six weeks of the season, he proved over and over again that he did not belong in the Atlantic League. In 16 games for the Patriots, Prinz earned 13 saves. He struck out 19 batters in 16 innings, posting a miniscule 0.56 ERA.

So naturally, he wasn’t still around when the team set came out in early June - he’d already been signed by the Oakland Athletics and assigned to AAA Sacramento. Still, he was nice enough to sign one for me through the mail.

Prinz has not had as much success with the River Cats, but he’s still averaging close to a strikeout per inning and would have a respectable ERA if you took away his disasterous first outing. Hopefully, he’ll continue to pitch well and find his way back to the Major Leagues this year.

Joe Pignatano played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but he played his final season for the 1962 New York Mets.

In his last big league at-bat, Pignatano hit into a triple play - to the best of my knowledge, he’s the only player who ever did that.

After Pignatano’s playing career ended, he became a coach for the Mets and was part of the 1969 Miracle team. Pignatano was famous for growing tomatoes in the bullpen at Shea Stadium.

Joe Pignatano signed the card pictured on the left, a 1991 Wiz Mets card, through the mail for me. It took about a week.