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MLB

Avina’s Walk-Off Caps Somerset’s 11th Inning Surge in Cunningham’s Double-A Debut

By Somerset Patriots
August 25, 2026

The Somerset Patriots walked off the series opener against the Akron RubberDucks 10-9 in 11 innings at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Tuesday evening. Trailing 9-5 entering the bottom of the 11th, the Patriots rallied back with a five-run frame to earn their sixth walk-off win of the

The Somerset Patriots walked off the series opener against the Akron RubberDucks 10-9 in 11 innings at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Tuesday evening.

Trailing 9-5 entering the bottom of the 11th, the Patriots rallied back with a five-run frame to earn their sixth walk-off win of the season. Somerset’s comeback win marked the seventh time across 12 August victories the Patriots have taken the decisive lead in the seventh inning or later.

With the win, Somerset has won four straight and 10 of its last 13 games to stay within 2.5 games of first-place Reading in the Northeast Division with 17 games remaining in the second half. The Patriots improved to a second half-best four games over .500 (28-24) and season-best nine games over .500 (65-56). The win moved the Patriots to 3-4 against the RubberDucks this season and 5-5 in extra innings.

Somerset played in its second extra innings game in its last three contests. After scoring four runs in the 10th inning on Saturday, Somerset’s five runs in the 11th inning were the most by the Patriots in an extra inning since a franchise-record six runs in the 10th inning on September 6, 2024 at Binghamton.

The five-run 11th inning marked the third consecutive game where the Patriots have recorded five-plus runs in a single inning. Dating back to Wednesday at Hartford, Somerset has notched four five-plus run frames (all in the seventh inning or later) to push its total to 21 this season. Somerset’s 21 innings with at least five runs rank second in the Eastern League.

Since August 19, Somerset is batting .410 with a 1.116 OPS and has scored 32 runs, averaging 5.3 per game, in the seventh inning or later.

With leadoff homers in the seventh and eighth innings from Josh Moylan and Roderick Arias and an 11th inning homer from DJ Gladney, Somerset has registered three-plus homers in 30 games this season and multiple homers in 51 of 121 games this season. Somerset’s 51 multi-HR games are the most since the Patriots’ franchise-record 55 multi-HR games in 2023. Somerset has homered in three of its last four games. The Patriots’ 170 homers this season rank second in Double-A at the time of the game’s conclusion.

Somerset’s 13 hits were the team’s most since notching 14 hits on August 19 at Hartford. The Patriots have tallied seven-plus hits in each of their last seven games dating back to August 18. In that span, Somerset is batting .292 as a team with an .818 OPS, while averaging 7.1 runs per game.

RHP Bryce Cunningham (5.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 6 K) made his Double-A debut, striking out Cleveland’s No. 6 Prospect Jaison Chourio to earn his first punchout at Double-A. Cunningham earned three strikeouts on his changeup, two on his curveball and one on his fastball. Cunningham joined Sean Paul Liñan, Rory Fox and Jack Cebert as the fourth pitcher on Hudson Valley’s Opening Day roster to start a game for Somerset this season.

RHP Kelly Austin (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K) faced the minimum across the sixth and seventh innings. Austin posted his ninth scoreless outing in his last 10 appearances. In that span, he’s recorded a 0.56 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and .094 BAA with 16 K in 16.0 IP. Dating back to June 7 at Harrisburg, Austin has worked a 2.08 ERA, 2-1 record, 0.86 WHIP and .148 BAA with 32 K to 10 BB in 30.1 IP.

RHP Kevin Stevens (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K) struck out the side in the eighth inning. Stevens recorded his eighth scoreless outing in his last nine appearances. In that span, he’s posted a 0.96 ERA, 0.54 WHIP and .121 BAA with 15 K to 1 BB in 9.1 IP.

RHP Tony Rossi (1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 K) worked his fourth consecutive outing without allowing an earned run. In his last 15 outings, Rossi has a 1.33 ERA, 4-0 record, 0.74 WHIP and .130 BAA with 23 K with 6 BB in 20.1 IP.

CF Jace Avina (2-for-5, 3 RBI) pounded a walk-off two-RBI single to right field in the 11th inning. Avina’s walk-off single earned Somerset’s first walk-off win since Omar Alfonzo’s walk-off homer on August 14 vs. New Hampshire. Avina’s three RBI tied a season-high for the first time since July 9 vs. Reading and third time overall. Avina has recorded RBI in three straight games for the first time since May 6 – May 8 at Reading.

2B Roderick Arias (2-for-5, HR, RBI, 3 R) blasted his second homer at Double-A and career-high 14th across all levels in the eighth inning. Arias’ 14 homers and 75 RBI surpass his previous career-highs of 13 home runs and 74 RBI with Tampa in 2024. In 19 games with Somerset, Arias has registered 22 hits and is slashing .289/.349/.487 with 2 HR, 14 RBI and 10 XBH.

RF DJ Gladney (2-for-5, HR, 3 RBI, R) smashed a two-run homer in the 11th inning for his team-leading 23rd home run with the Patriots this season. Gladney’s 23 homers are a career-high and are tied for third in the Yankees minor league system with Josh Moylan. Gladney extended his on-base streak to eight games. In that span, he’s 9-for-24 (.385/.419/.708) with 2 HR, 11 RBI, 4 XBH and three multi-hit games. In August, Gladney is slashing .304/..354/.643 with 5 HR, 21 RBI, 9 XBH and five multi-hit games.

3B Coby Morales (1-for-5, R) extended his on-base streak to a career-high 19 games with a single in the 11th inning. During Morales’ 19-game on-base streak, he’s slashing .313/.452/.478 with 2 HR, 5 RBI and 5 XBH.

1B Josh Moylan (1-for-4, HR, RBI, BB, 2 R) smacked his 10th homer with Somerset and 23rd across all levels this season in the seventh inning. Moylan’s 23 home runs are tied for third in the Yankees minor league system. Moylan extended his hit streak to four games and on-base streak to six games. Across his last four games he’s 5-for-16 with 2 HR and 5 RBI.

DH Manny Palencia (2-for-5, R) recorded his second consecutive multi-hit game and 17th overall this season to lead all Somerset catchers. Palencia extended his hit streak to six games, during which he’s 8-for-21 (.381/.417/.619) with a HR, 8 RBI, 3 XBH and two multi-hit games. Palencia has reached safely in 14 of his last 15 games. During that stretch, he’s slashing .382/.407/.727 with 5 HR, 16 RBI and 9 XBH. Since the beginning of July, Palencia has 11 multi-hit games and is slashing .374/.400/.596 with 5 HR, 19 RBI and 12 XBH in that span. Palencia’s .374 AVG leads all Double-A catchers with 105-plus plate appearances in that stretch, while ranking tied for second among all Double-A batters.

LF Cole Gabrielson (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB, R) notched a double in the seventh inning to secure his fifth multi-hit game with the Patriots and 11th overall this season. Gabrielson tied the game 5-5 in the 10th inning, diving home safely under Bennett Thompson’s tag on a Jace Avina sacrifice fly.

***

Box Score

Postgame Notes

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