NEWARK, NJ - The Newark Bears season is turning around in a hurry. The Bears won an exciting pitcher’s duel by the score of 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium on Sunday afternoon. With the win, coupled with York’s loss to Camden, Newark moves within three games of the first place York Revolution.

Jose Garcia and company halted the powerful Ducks for a third straight game, taking three-out-of-four from a team that entered the series on a nine-game winning streak.

Garcia (9-4) hurled eight fantastic innings, yielding just four hits and one earned run while striking out six. He kept the potent Long Island lineup at bay all afternoon, making just one mistake in the third inning.

Abe Alvarez (6-2) was also fantastic, going the distance for the Ducks but was not quite good enough to defeat Garcia on this day.

With the wind blowing in strongly from right field, runs were at a premium throughout the game. Kevin Haverbusch and Raul Gonzalez combined for nine putouts on the afternoon on balls that couldn’t quite make it over the wall.

Robert Sandora drew first blood for the Long Island Ducks in the third inning. He sent Jose Garcia’s offering to the opposite field, just clearing the short porch in left to give them a 1-0 lead.

Newark answered back in the fourth when Ramon Castro hit a solo home run of his own over the wall down the right-field line, getting enough on the ball to push it through the stiff wind that the ball was facing. The game was tied at 1.

That was all the offenses could muster for most of the game. Garcia found himself in a little trouble in the sixth inning after Dennis Donovan reached on an error by Vic Gutierrez. P.J. Rose singled him to third with two outs and the Ducks had found a rally. But Garcia reached back and struck out Edgardo Alfonzo to leave the runners stranded.

After Will Otanez’s double in the fourth, Alvarez retired 11 straight batters until that fateful eighth inning, when the Bears finally took the lead.

Ramon Nivar smashed a one-out double into the left-centerfield gap, giving the Bears the best chance to score since the fourth. Gutierrez came up and atoned for his earlier error by ripping a single into right. Nivar came flying around third and slid around Jamie Pogue’s block of the late, beating the throw and scoring the winning run.

Shaun Babula came on to face Rose in the ninth and struck him out looking. Manager Wayne Krenchicki then turned the ball over to Ed Almonte (4) to finish the job. Although he gave up a double to Alfonzo, he got Kevin Haverbusch and Kyle Nichols to ground out and end the game. It was a thrilling victory for the Bears, who now feel their season turn on a dime and believe they can repeat as champions once again.

Newark travels to Lancaster for a three-game set against the Barnstormers before returning to The Den for another weekend series against the Long Island Ducks.

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