Lake County Sentinel
Captains toss combined no-hitter, sweep doubleheader
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
(EASTLAKE, OH) - The weather on Tuesday made it impossible to play baseball at Classic Park. So, on Wednesday fans in attendance got two for the price of one as the Lake County Captains and West Michigan Whitecaps played a doubleheader (7 innings per game). The Captains had a very nice day as they threw a combined no-hitter and swept the doubleheader.
Game 1
The Captains got on the board quick in the first inning when Ernie Clement led of the game by drawing a base on balls from West Michigan starter Garett King. With Clement at first base and Austen Wade at the plate, king uncorked a wild pitch and Clement moved to second base. Then Wade doubled into the right field gap and Clement came home, giving Lake County the early 1-0 lead.
The Captains extended the lead in the second inning when Jonathan Laureano belted his second home run of the season over the right field fence to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.
The final two runs of the game for Lake County came courtesy of the bat of Will Benson. Benson belted solo home runs in both the fourth and sixth innings to give the Captains an insurmountable 4-0 lead.
The 4-0 lead was insurmountable due to the fact the West Michigan Whitecaps could not manage a base hit off Captains starter Francisco Perez. Perez did issue six base on balls during his six and one third innings of work, but did not allow a hit and struck out four. Captains manager Luke Carlin allowed Perez to go out to finish the game in the seventh inning, giving him every opportunity to complete the rare feat. Perez was removed after loading the base on base on balls with just one out. Perez was at 98 pitches when he left the game. Reliever James Karinchak came in and recorded the final two outs. He got Alexis Garcia out on strikes swinging and then got Cole Peterson to fly out to Wade in left field for the final out and complete the no-hitter. This was the first Captains no-hitter since opening night of 2011.
King took the loss for the Whitecaps. He went five innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, all earned. King issued two base on balls and struck out three. With the loss the righty falls to 0-1 with a 3.31 ERA. Perez picks up the win for the Captains and improves to 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA. Karinchak picked up his first save of the season.
Game 2
The second game was completely different than the first game as five runs were scored in the first inning. Three runs by the Whitecaps off Captains starter Kirk McCarty and the Captains returned the favor by scoring two off West Michigan starter Elvin Rodriguez in the bottom of the first inning.
The Captains went on to score a single run in the third, two more in the fourth inning, knocking out Rodriguez. They added one more run in the fifth inning to finish the scoring at 6-3.
Jorma Rodriguez went 3 for 3 for Lake County in the game and Nolan Jones went 1 for 4 with 2 RBI. Jones hit was a two-run home run in the first inning. The long ball was his second of the season.
Rodriguez took the loss for the Whitecaps. He went three and two thirds innings, allowing five runs, four earned on eight hits. He also issued a base on balls and struck out five Captains. With the loss the righty falls to 1-1 with a 5.93 ERA. Domingo Jimenez picked up the win in relief for Lake County. Jimenez entered the game with two outs in the first inning for struggling Kirk McCarty. Jimenez pitched three and one thirds innings allowing no hits, while issuing three base on balls and striking out six Whitecaps. With the win Jimenez improves to 3-0 with a 5.06 ERA. Jonathan Teaney picked up his second save of the year, pitching the final inning and striking out one batter.
The Captains and Whitecaps will wrap up their four-game series on Thursday at 12 noon. Righty Matt Manning will be on the mound for the Whitecaps. Manning is 0-0 with a 7.36 ERA in one start. The Captains will send Grant Hockin to the hill. Hockin is 1-2 with a 4.80 ERA in three starts.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page
POSTED 04/25/2018 22:29
Photo by Phillip Goth
