Gladney and Castillo Club Homers as Somerset Falls to Akron
The Somerset Patriots lost to the Akron RubberDucks 11-4 at 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron, OH on Friday night. The loss moved Somerset to 4.5 games back of first-place Reading in the Northeast Division with 32 games remaining. With homers from DJ Gladney and Jackson Castillo, Somerset has
The Somerset Patriots lost to the Akron RubberDucks 11-4 at 7 17 Credit Union Park in Akron, OH on Friday night.
The loss moved Somerset to 4.5 games back of first-place Reading in the Northeast Division with 32 games remaining.
With homers from DJ Gladney and Jackson Castillo, Somerset has smashed multiple homers in back-to-back games and in 45 of 106 (42.5%) games this season. That surpasses Somerset’s multiple homers in 35 of 138 (25.4%) games in 2025.
Somerset’s 151 homers this season lead Double-A and are tied for eighth in MiLB at the time of the game’s conclusion.
Jackson Castillo’s two-out homer in the eighth inning marked Somerset’s 14th two-out homer since the All-Star break to tie for the MiLB lead. Somerset’s .324 AVG with two outs in that span leads Double-A and ranks second in MiLB.
RHP Chase Hampton (3.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 0 BB, 1 K) struck out Jaison Chourio looking in the second inning during his ninth start with Somerset this season.
RHP Trent Sellers (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K) tossed two scoreless innings for his second consecutive outing. Across his last 10 appearances, Sellers has posted a 1.26 ERA and .157 BAA with 19 K in 14.1 IP.
Fast start for Jace Avina (@Yankees No. 16 Prospect) 👀
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 7, 2026
He CRUSHES his org-leading 45th XBH of the season! pic.twitter.com/A985Uo8GUu
DH Jace Avina (1-for-2, 2B, 3 BB) clubbed a leadoff double in the first inning before walking three times. Avina’s three walks tied a career-high for the fourth time this season and eighth time overall. Avina’s four games with three walks this year have all come since July 23 at New Hampshire. In that span, Avina has walked 18 times en route to a .446 OBP across 14 games. Avina’s 45 XBH this season lead all Yankees farmhands.
DJ Gladney HAMMERS his career-high tying 19th HR of the season! 💪 pic.twitter.com/z1VoRIiYo1
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 8, 2026
RF DJ Gladney (1-for-5, HR, 2 RBI, R) smacked his 19th home run of the season to left field in the fifth inning. Gladney’s 19 homers tie a career-high for the third time (2022, 2023) and are tied for second among active Eastern League hitters and tied for third in the Yankees farm system. Gladney extended his on-base streak to 10 games. With hits in nine games during that stretch, Gladney is slashing .381/.409/.738 with 4 HR, 7 XBH and 12 RBI.
SS Roderick Arias (1-for-4) looped a single into shallow right center field in the third inning. Arias has hit safely in all four games to start his stint with Somerset. Dating back to his time in Hudson Valley, Arias has hit safely in eight straight games. In that span, he’s slashing .394/.412/.606 with 6 XBH, 3 RBI and four multi-hit games.
Jackson Castillo CLUBS his eighth home run of the season to right field! 💣 pic.twitter.com/vBKXnmA2bf
— Somerset Patriots (@SOMPatriots) August 8, 2026
LF Jackson Castillo (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI, BB, R) powered his eighth homer of the season on a two-run shot to right field in the eighth inning. Castillo’s homer snapped a 29-game drought without a long ball dating back to June 30 and placed him one homer shy of tying a career-high nine home runs in 2024. Castillo extended his on-base streak to eight games. In that span, he’s reached base safely in 14-of-35 plate appearances (.400 OBP).
1B Josh Moylan (1-for-4) extended his hit streak to five games with a single in the second inning. During his five-game hit streak, Moylan is 6-for-19 at the plate. Across his last 16 games, Moylan is slashing .333/.354/.517 with 3 HR, 11 RBI, 5 XBH and four multi-hit games.
CF Luis Durango (1-for-3, BB, R, SB) singled in the third inning before swiping his 40th stolen base of the season. Durango’s 40 SB this season rank second in the Yankees farm system. Durango extended his on-base streak to eight games during which he’s reached in 13 of 27 plate appearances (.481 OBP). Across 10 Double-A games this season, Durango is 9-for-26 with 5 R, 2 XBH, 4 RBI, 4 SB and 4 BB.
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