Lake County Sentinel
Captains salvage series with Loons on walk 4-3 win
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
On Sunday afternoon at Classic Park the Lake County Captains were trying to avoid being swept by the visiting Great Lakes Loons and keep their hopes alive to clinch a first half playoff spot in the Midwest League Eastern Division. The day went as the Captains and the 2,176 fans had hoped as they defeated the Loons in walk fashion 4-3 to salvage the final game of the series.
The Loons got on the board first in the third inning with a single run off Captains starter Tom Pannone. Great Lakes extended their lead to 3-0 with two more runs off Pannone in the fourth inning.
The Captains finally broke through in the seventh inning with two runs off Loons reliever Wes Helsabeck. With one out in the inning after Jose Medina stuck out, Nathan Lukes doubled to right field. Willi Castro then reached on a fielding error and Lukes moved to third base. After Tyler Krieger struck out Francisco Mejia singled, driving home Lukes and Castro.
The Captains then tied the game in the eighth inning when Yonathan Mendoza doubled to lead off the inning. After Martin Cervenka grounded out, Anthony Miller doubled off the right field wall scoring Mendoza to tie the game 3-3.
After the Loons threatened and failed to score in the top of the ninth, the Captains were able to finish the deal in the bottom of the ninth.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning Krieger tripled to center field. This is the point it got very interesting as Loons manager Gil Velazquez decided to intentionally walk both Mejia and Connor Marabell. The move backfired when the next batter Mendoza reached on a throwing error by Loons second baseman Omar Estevez and Krieger crossed home plate with the winning run.
The Captains who entered Sunday's action in third place in the Eastern Division a half game behind the West Michigan Whitecaps, have now moved back into second place a half game ahead of West Michigan. The Whitecaps lost on Sunday 5-3 in 11 innings to the Lansing Lugnuts.
The Captains will now hit the road for a seven game road trip with stops in Bowling Green and South Bend. The first three games will be in Bowling Green against the Hot Rods starting on Monday night at 7:35 p.m. Genesis Cabrera will be on the mound for the Hot Rods. Cabrera, a lefty is 5-2 with a 2.27 ERA. The Captains will counter with their own lefty Sam Hentges. Hentges is 1-4 with a 6.54 ERA.
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan page
POSTED 06/12/2016 17:11
