Luciano's Two Homers, Sellers' 10 Strikeouts Top Portland in 2-1 Win
EL Somerset Patriots

Luciano's Two Homers, Sellers' 10 Strikeouts Top Portland in 2-1 Win

Published on April 28, 2026 under Eastern League (EL)
Somerset Patriots News Release


Marco Luciano of the Somerset Patriots rounds the bases
Marco Luciano of the Somerset Patriots rounds the bases
(Somerset Patriots)

The Somerset Patriots secured a 2-1 win over the Portland Sea Dogs at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, NJ on Tuesday night.

Somerset handed Portland its first one-run loss this season and moved to 4-6 on the season in one-run games. The Patriots' 10 one-run games this season is tied for the most in the Eastern League.

With two homers in the game, the Patriots moved to 6-4 on the season when hitting two or more home runs. Somerset has hit a home run in seven of its last eight games, smashing a league-high 17 homers in that span. Somerset's 33 home runs this season lead the Eastern League.

With 14 strikeouts in the game, Somerset's pitching staff has recorded eight-plus strikeouts in 16 straight games. Reaching that mark in 20 of 21 games this season, Somerset's 11.3 K/9 ranks second-most in the Eastern League

RHP Trent Sellers (4.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 10 K) notched a career-high 10 strikeouts in a season-high 4.2 IP. Sellers notched three strikeouts in a scoreless first inning, punching out six batters through the first nine Sea Dogs he faced.

Sellers' 10 strikeouts and 94 pitches were the most by a Somerset pitcher this season. The punchouts were the most by any Somerset pitcher since Carlos Lagrange posted 10 strikeouts vs. New Hampshire on 9/5/25 and tied for the third most among all Eastern League pitchers this season. Sellers' 27 strikeouts this season lead the Patriots and ranks fourth in the Eastern League. His 14.6 K/9 leads all qualified Eastern League arms

RHP Ben Grable (1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 K) made his Double-A debut by striking out the first two batters he faced, including a punchout to Brooks Brannon to strand two baserunners in the fifth inning. Through seven appearances between High-A and Double-A this season, Grable has a 1.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP, .103 BAA with 19 SO and two walks across 9.0 IP. He's struck out 57.6% of the batters he's faced in his first professional season.

LHP Will Brian (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, SV) earned his first save of the season and Somerset's second overall. Brian has pitched scoreless outings in seven of a team-high eight appearances this season. In that span, he's posted a 0.71 ERA, 0.79 WHIP, 0.178 BAA with 19 strikeouts to two walks. Brian's 19 strikeouts this year are the second-most by any qualified Eastern League pitcher with two or fewer walks.

2B Marco Luciano (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) secured his second multi-HR game of the season and 11th multi-HR game of his career. Luciano is the only Eastern League hitter with multiple multi-HR games this season.

Luciano's second multi-HR game of the year marks Somerset's fifth among all hitters which leads the Eastern League. New Hampshire and Richmond are tied for second with two multi-HR games apiece.

Luciano's team-leading six homers this season ranks fifth in the Eastern League and is tied for first in the Yankees minor league system. Luciano also ranks first among Yankees farmhands in SLG (.629), is tied for first in XBH (12) and is second in OPS (.992).

LF Jackson Castillo (1-for-3) continued his four-game hit streak to start the season. Through four games this season, Castillo is 6-for-14 with a HR, double, five RBI and a walk. Dating back to last season, Castillo has a hit in six straight games with Somerset.

C Miguel Palma (2-for-3) notched his first multi-hit game as a member of the Yankees organization. Across his last five games, Palma is hitting .314/.389/.563 with a home run and three RBI.

Check out the Somerset Patriots Statistics

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Marco Luciano of the Somerset Patriots rounds the bases
Marco Luciano of the Somerset Patriots rounds the bases
   



Eastern League Stories from April 28, 2026


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