Lake County Sentinel
Captains stop Whitecaps 6-1
BY ANDREW LUFTGLASS
CAPTAINS MEDIA RELATIONS
(COMSTOCK PARK, MI) - Francisco Mejia fell just a home run shy of hitting for the cycle and drove in four runs to lead the Lake County Captains to a 6-1 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps on Monday night at Fifth Third Ballpark. The victory was Lake County’s first road win of the season.
Mejia began his assault on West Michigan pitching in the first inning. With Nathan Lukes and Tyler Krieger on base, Mejia roped a triple to the right-centerfield gap and cleared the bases to give the Captains a 1-0 lead. Two innings later, Mejia added to Lake County’s advantage with an RBI single that scored Lukes again. Yonathan Mendoza followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Krieger and put the Captains ahead, 4-0, in the third inning.
The Captains’ catcher came through again with the bat in the fifth inning. After Krieger led off with a single and stole second, Mejia laced a double that scored Krieger and gave the Captains a 5-0 lead. Later in the inning, he scored on an RBI single by Connor Marabell that put Lake County in front, 6-0.
Mejia had two opportunities to hit a home run to complete the cycle. In the sixth inning, the switch-hitter drew a walk against right-hander Jon Maciel. Then, in the eighth, Mejia popped up against lefty Trent Szkutnik. Mejia finished the evening 3-for-4 with a double, a triple, four RBI and a run scored.
Krieger had a strong day at the plate in his own right. The switch-hitting second baseman reached all five times he came to the plate. Krieger hit four singles, was hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored three runs. The performance raised the rookie’s average to .474.
On the mound, Shao-Ching Chiang tossed five shutout innings in his first start of the season. Chiang (1-0) allowed just five hits and struck out two to earn the win. Jared Robinson pitched the final four innings and gave up just one run on nine hits. Robinson struck out three and picked up the save.
The Captains and Whitecaps square off again on Tuesday night at Fifth Third Ballpark. LHP Tom Pannone is due to start for Lake County against LHP Eudis Idrogo for West Michigan. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.
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POSTED 04/11/2016 23:47
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