Lake County Sentinel
Captains pounded by Whitecaps 7-1
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
(COMSTOCK PARK, MI) - The Lake County Captains (19-23) will have to fight to avoid a sweep on Sunday after they fell for the second straight night to the West Michigan Whitecaps (22-19) on Saturday at Fifth Third Ballpark. West Michigan starter Jose Vasquez turned in a strong Midwest League debut and the Whitecaps' offense tallied double digit hits for the second game in a row to beat Lake County, 7-1.
Vasquez (1-0) held the Captains' bats relatively quiet en route to a victory in his first start of the season. The right-hander pitched five innings and allowed one run on six hits. His only blemish came in the third when Ernie Clement and Austen Wade hit back-to-back one-out singles and Nolan Jones followed with a single of his own to drive home Clement. Vasquez struck out three Captains hitters and walked just one.
West Michigan scored at least a run for four innings in a row against Captains starter Felix Tati, starting in the second. Dylan Rosa led off the second with a single and Vasquez walked the next two men, Jordan Pearce and Colby Bortles, to load the bases. Garrett McCain then made Tati pay with a two-run single that plated Rosa and Pearce to open the scoring.
The Whitecaps struck again in the third thanks to an error. Brady Policelli led off with a walk, but was erased on a fielder's choice when Luke Burch bounced a ball back to the mound and Felix Tati fired to second base for the force out. Burch then stole second base and was still on second when Rosa came up with two outs. Rosa hit a bouncing ball to deep third base and Jones made a backhanded scoop on the line. The third baseman uncorked a long throw to first, but the ball skipped under Jose Vicente's glove at first. Burch scored on the error to give West Michigan a 3-1 lead.
The fourth inning yielded another West Michigan run, this time keyed by a leadoff double. Bortles began the frame with a two-base hit to left field and later moved to third on a single by Alexis Garcia. Cole Peterson knocked home Bortles with a sacrifice fly to left that put the Whitecaps ahead, 4-1.
West Michigan's streak continued with a run in the fifth. Tati issues another leadoff walk, this time to Burch who then stole second base. With two outs, Pearce doubled home Burch to push the Whitecaps' lead to 5-1.
Right-hander Nick Gallagher broke the Whitecaps' string of consecutive innings with a run when he blanked West Michigan in the sixth. The next inning, however, Rosa connected with a two-run home run to left field that completed the scoring.
Tati (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) over five innings. The right-hander gave up five hits, walked four and struck out two in his return to the Captains from High-A Lynchburg.
Lake County will try to avoid the sweep against West Michigan on Sunday afternoon. First pitch against West Michigan is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Ballpark.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page
POSTED 05/19/2018 23:40
Photo by Phillip Goth
Captains relief pitcher Nick Gallagher.
