Lake County drops middle game to Bees

(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains lost the middle game of a three-game series to the Burlington Bees on Wednesday night at Classic Park. The Captains stranded 23 men throughout the ballgame, including seven in scoring position, en route to a 4-2 defeat.

Burlington took an early lead against Captains starter Shao-Ching Chiang. The Bees hit three doubles in the first inning and jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Hotton Moyer and Tanner Lubach drove in the runs with RBI doubles.

The Captains answered quickly in the second inning with extra-base hits of their own. Ka'ai Tom led off the inning with a triple to left field and Connor Marabell drove him in with an RBI double moments later to cut Burlington's lead to 2-1.

Chiang settled down after the shaky first inning and gave the Captains a chance to battle back. The right-hander pitched six innings and did not allow another run after the first. After Chiang delivered five consecutive scoreless innings, the Captains finally came back to knot the score in the bottom of the sixth.

Willi Castro ignited the Captains' sixth-inning rally with a leadoff single and promptly stole second. Tyler Krieger worked a walk and after a strikeout, Tom stepped to the plate. Tom hit a ground ball to second base that looked like a tailor-made double play ball. After the force out at second, however, Tom beat the throw to first and Castro raced around third base. Bees first baseman Jordan Serena threw home, but Castro slid in safely to tie the game at 2-2.

The game remained tied until the eighth inning when Burlington produced a two-out rally against Captains right-hander Jared Robinson. Michael Pierson and Hutton Moyer hit back-to-back two-out singles and on a 3-2 pitch, Jared Foster hit a line drive to centerfield off the end of his bat. The liner dunked into centerfield and Pierson scored the go-ahead run for the Bees.

Lake County had a golden opportunity to come back in the bottom of the eighth, but could not push the tying run across. Castro again tried to key a Captains rally, as he reached on a leadoff single and again stole second base. After Bees reliever Eric Alonzo struck out Krieger, the Bees elected to intentionally walk Francisco Mejia. The decision paid off for Burlington, as Alonzo (1-0) struck out Tom and got Marabell to bounce out to first to end the inning.

The Bees added an insurance run in the ninth, again on a two-out rally against Robinson (0-1). Robinson struck out the first two men in the ninth, but then walked Josh Delph. Delph stole second and Serena fought off a high-and-inside pitch and blooped it down the right field line for an RBI double to give Burlington a 4-2 lead.

Lake County had an opportunity to come back in the ninth, but left the tying run on base. Yonathan Mendoza reached on an error by Moyer at shortstop and Nathan Lukes singled with two outs. Bees closer Adam Hofacket escaped the jam, however. He got Castro to fly out to center to end the ballgame and secure his fourth save of the season.

Robinson suffered his first loss of the season for Lake County. The right-hander pitched three innings and allowed two runs on four hits. Robinson struck out three and walked one.

Eric Alonzo earned the victory for the Bees in relief. Alonzo (1-0) pitched a pair of scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth. The right-hander escaped trouble both innings, leaving a runner on second base in the seventh and runners on first and second in the eighth. Alonzo allowed two hits, struck out three and walked one batter intentionally.

Lake County and Burlington will meet again on Thursday night in the rubber game of the three-game series. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. LHP Tom Pannone will pitch for the Captains against RHP Jose Rodriguez.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.