Lake County Sentinel
Captains pounded by Whitescaps 9-3
BY ANDREW LUFTGLASS
CAPTAINS MEDIA RELATIONS
(Comstock Park, MI) – The Lake County Captains took their first loss of the season at Fifth Third Ballpark with a 9-3 defeat at the hands of the West Michigan Whitecaps on Monday night. Lake County had swept the Whitecaps on their home soil last week, but two big rallies by the West Michigan offense sunk the Captains in the series opener this time around.
Captains starter Casey Shane was lights-out at the start of the game, retiring every Whitecaps hitter he faced the first time through the order. After a perfect first three innings, however, Shane (1-1) was hit hard in the fourth. The Whitecaps scored four runs on five hits and promptly took a 4-1 lead.
Brett Pirtle started the rally for West Michigan with a one-out line-drive single to centerfield. Pirtles hit was the Whitecaps’ first baserunner of the game and started a hit parade, as Shane Zeile and Will Allen followed with back-to-back singles of their own. Allen’s single bounced into left field and allowed Pirtle to score the tying run. Stephen Fuentes gave West Michigan their first lead against the Captains this season, as he lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Zeile. Jose Azocar and Arvicent Perez then slammed back-to-back RBI triples to put a finishing stamp on the rally.
West Michigan scored another five runs in the sixth inning against Captains reliever Cortland Cox to put the game out of reach. Azocar and Derek Hill contributed RBI singles, Cam Gibson laced an RBI double and Pirtle drove a run in with a sacrifice fly. The Whitecaps also scored on an error by Lake County first baseman Nate Winfrey. West Michigan sent nine men to the plate in the inning and tallied five hits in the frame.
Lake County scored two more runs in the eighth inning, but that was all the offense could muster. Francisco Mejia hit an RBI single to left field and Tyler Krieger scored on a wild pitch. Mejia’s hit extended his hitting streak to seven games and gave him a team-high nine RBI. He has seven of those RBI against West Michigan.
West Michigan starter Eudis Idrogo pitched well in his second time facing the Captains. The left-hander, who lost against Lake County last week, allowed just one run over six innings this time around. Idrogo (1-1) gave up six hits, hit one batter and struck out one.
The Captains will face the Whitecaps again on Tuesday in the middle game of the three-game series at Fifth Third Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. LHP Sam Hentges will get the start for the Captains against Whitecaps RHP Sandy Baez.
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POSTED 04/18/2016 13:51
