De Jong dazzles as Lugs open with a win

LANSING, Mich. - Chase De Jong matched a career high with nine strikeouts and the Lansing Lugnuts (1-0) took advantage of a key error to edge the Lake County Captains (0-1), 3-2, on a rain-delayed Opening Day at Cooley Law School Stadium.

Honored with the season-opening start, De Jong began the game by walking Greg Allen. Yu-Cheng Chang followed with an RBI double for a quick 1-0 Captains lead.

From there, the Lugnuts' right-hander found his groove.

De Jong struck out the next three batters in the first inning, whiffed two in both the second and third innings, and fanned the first two Caps he faced in the fifth, finishing with 4 2/3 innings worked, allowing four hits, one run and two walks.

Lansing tied the score at 1-1 on a two-out Richard Urena single in the third, before taking the lead for good an inning later.

With one out in the home fourth, Lake County left fielder Dorssys Paulino dropped Danny Jansen's warning-track fly for a two-base error. Two batters later, Chris Carlson and Gunnar Heidt victimized Captains starter Dace Kime (Loss, 0-1) with consecutive two-out RBI singles, putting the Lugs up 3-1.

Lake County set down the final 13 Lansing batters succeeding Heidt's base hit, but the visitors - with the exception of a Greg Allen RBI single in the seventh - could not muster a response.

Reliever Mark Biggs (Win, 1-0) earned the victory in his Lugnuts debut with 2.1 innings, allowing one run on two hits and striking out three.

Francisco Gracesqui walked two around a double play grounder in the eighth, yielding to Phil Kish (Save, 1) for the final four outs.

The first pitch was delayed by 55 minutes due to rain rain delay held up the first pitch of the Lugnuts' 20th season in the Midwest League .

The Lugs and Captains conclude their season-opening series with a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 12:05 p.m. Lansing starts right-hander Starlyn Suriel and southpaw Shane Dawson against a pair of Lake County lefties, Anderson Polanco and 2014 Indians first-round pick Justus Sheffield. Both games are slated for seven innings, with a 30-minute break between games.

For more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit lansinglugnuts.com.
 

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