Lake County Sentinel
Dragons top Captains in extra inning slug fest 8-7
TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
The Lake County Captains pounded the Dayton Dragons 10-1 on Friday night in front of a large crowd. There was another large crowd of 7,827 in attendance at Classic Park on Saturday night. Unfortunately, the Captains fell short in an extra innings slug fest 8-7.
The Dragons struck early in the first inning with two runs off Captains starting pitcher Luis Jimenez.
The Dragons added a run in the third and two more in the fourth inning. The first run in the fourth inning came on a solo home run by Taylor Sparks. The home run by Sparks was his first home run of the season and gave the Dragons a 4-0 lead. The Dragons added another run to increase their lead to 5-0.
The Captains got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. With two outs in the inning Mitch Longo and Emmanuel Tapia hit back to back doubles. Longo scored on Tapia's double, which hit off the center field wall at 111 mph. The double pulled the Captains to within four runs at 5-1.
The Dragons answered with a single run in the top of the fifth inning off Jimenez increasing their lead back to five at 6-1.
The Captains struck for a big four run inning in the bottom of the fourth to get right back in the game, pulling within a run at 6-5. The trouble began immediately in the inning when Dayton starter Matt Blandino gave up back to back doubles to Alexis Pantoja and Jose Vincente to start the inning, Pantoja scored on the Vincente double. After Jorma Rodriguez was retired on strikes, Gabriel Mejia singled and Vincente moved to third base. Mejia then stole second base, his ninth steal of the season to put runners at second and third. Luke Wakamatsu then struck out on a called strike three for the second out of the inning. Conner Capel then reached on a base on balls to load the bases for Longo. Longo did not disappoint as he doubled into center field, clearing the bases and bringing the score to 6-5. Longo advanced to third on the play when Dayton shortstop Carlos Rivero committed a throwing error. Tapia was called out on strikes to end the rally.
The Captains tied the game with a run in the eighth inning. With one out and runners on first and second (Pantoja on second and Vincente on first) Rodriguez hit a ground ball and Vincente was retired at second, but Pantoja came all the way home and Rodriguez was safe at first base, to tie the game 6-6.
The Captains spotty defense reared its ugly head in the 10th inning, as the Dragons scored two runs, one earned. The big blow came on a sacrifice bunt by Michael Beltre with Rivero on second base after a double. The sacrifice bunt was not the problem, it was the throw by Captains reliever Henry Martinez as he airmailed the throw to first down the right field line and Rivero scored with the go ahead run and Beltre ended up at third base. Beltre scored when the next hitter Randy Ventura hit a sacrifice fly to right field, putting the Dragons ahead 8-6.
Tapia did his part to attempt a comeback in the tenth inning as he blasted a 414-foot home run over the center field fence that hit the lighthouse behind the fence. The home run went out of the park at 108 mph and brought the Captains to within one run at 8-7. The home run for Tapia was his 26th. He is now is two home runs shy of tying the Captains single season record held by Ryan Goleski (28) in 2004.
Aaron Fossas picked up the win for the Dragons in relief. Fossas, pitched two innings allowing one run. With the win Fossas improves to 4-1 with a 2.56 ERA. Henry Martinez is tagged with a loss and falls to 5-3 with a 3.27.
The Captains and Dragons will play game three of the four game series on Sunday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. Wennington Romero, will be on the mound for the Dragons. Romero, a lefty is 3-10 with a 5.24 ERA. The Captains will counter with their own lefty Brady Aiken. Aiken, is 5-12 with a 4.74 ERA..
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page
POSTED 08/19/2017 23:03
Lake County Captains right fielder Mitch Longo. Photo by Greg Goth
