Ducks Open With Win

By Brian Bohl on April 26, 2008

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — Randy Leek stayed in the dugout in the top of the seventh, concluding his evening after limiting Newark to one unearned run in six innings. The Levittown native threw 71 pitches, representing a step up from his spring training workload. So with a quality start already in the bag, Leek was happy to not push it and let the bullpen finish the job.

Right?

“That’s what Pointer told me,” Leek said with a laugh, indicating that manager Dave LaPoint was the reason behind his exit. “I hadn’t thrown more than 60 pitches in spring training. I felt good. But it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

A two-out rally in the opening inning provided Leek with all the necessary support, staking the southpaw to a four-run lead that would be sufficient for a 4-1 season-opening victory over the Bears in front of a sold-out crowd.

Eleven players are back from the 2007 team that captured the second-half division championship. Four holdovers—Carl Everett, Ray Navarrete, Kevin Haverbusch and Damien Rolls—lined four consecutive two-out hits to jump on Newark starter Michael Bumstead in the first.

Jamal Strong led off the contest with a single before Bumstead retired the next two batters. Everett kept the inning alive by beating out an infield single. Navarrete poked a single into shallow left to break open the scoring and Haverbusch followed by lining a full-count offering into the rightfield gap to plate two more. Rolls capped the rally by belting a run-scoring single.

“It’s a manager’s dream that your team comes out and gets that many two-out hits at important times,” LaPoint said. “They worked the count good. They waited for their pitch and they got some big hits.”

Staked to a 4-0 lead, Leek worked quickly and limited the Bears to just five hits. The 31-year-old struck out four and walked one.

“It’s a confidence boost when you jump out on top,” Leek said. “It’s a lot easier pitching with the lead. To get those four runs was big.”

Leek’s only mistake came not on the mound, but in the field. He dropped Cory Aldridge’s two-out popup by the third base foul line, allowing Mike Just to score the visitor’s lone run.

Other than the fielding miscue, Leek showed the form that led to a 5-1 record with a 2.23 ERA last year. That would have led the league if he accumulated enough innings to qualify. His time in Long Island was curtailed after getting a call to play for the Blue Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse and going to Taiwan for a stint.

“I was all over the place. My wife was ready to kill me,” Leek said. “That’s the goal. You want to get back into affiliated ball and get back to the big leagues.”

Leek (1-0) left 15 tickets for family and friends before the game. The cheering section witnessed his first Opening Day start since his collegiate days at William and Mary. It also marked a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff series. Newark swept the Ducks in the best-of-three North Division set, tagging Leek for the heartbreaking 3-2 Game 2 loss.

“Jamie Pogue mentioned to me in the spring training that I was going to be the first pitcher in Ducks history to start two games in a row,” Leek said while laughing. “I’ll try to work a bonus into my contract.

“I wish it wouldn’t have been the last game last year. But I got the Opening Day start. It’s an honor.”

LaPoint, who is entering his second season as Ducks manager, brought back the core of a team that finished 72-54. Before the game, he cited his team’s baseball intelligence as a reason why the Ducks can be contenders for the franchise’s first championship since 2004.

“When we throw the nine guys out there, we have nine smart guys. And that’s what wins baseball games,” LaPoint said.

That intelligence was show in the opening two innings when the Ducks’ veteran hitters worked deep counts against Bumstead (0-1). Newark’s righty lasted just three innings, giving up all four earned runs on six hits.

“I would say the first two innings he had to be up around 65-70 [pitches],” LaPoint said. “That’s from having a bunch of smart players who know how to play the situation. They were letting him get in trouble and waiting for their pitch. They didn’t give in.”

LaPoint cited Haverbusch as a player who worked hard to improve in the offseason. Former Duck Dominick Ambrosini was signed before the game, giving the Massapequa native some extra competition in the outfield. Haverbusch responded with a game-high two RBIs, which he said came as a product of a patient approach.

“Two out hits are the name of the game if you can do them,” Haverbusch said. “A couple of us were saying you wanted to see pitches the first game instead of swinging wildly. We were patient and he missed his spots a couple of times and we got in good hitter’s counts.”

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