Captains swept in doubleheader by Hot Rods
(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains were swept by the Bowling Green Hot Rods in a doubleheader on Tuesday night at Classic Park. Lake County lost game one, 3-1, and then lost the second game, 7-6.
Game one
The Captains got great pitching from right-handed starter Shao-Ching Chiang, but could not produce enough offense against Hot Rods starter Eduar Lopez. Both starting pitchers went the full seven innings and both gave up just one earned run. In the end, a two-run defensive miscue in the sixth cost Lake County the ballgame.
Bowling Green held a 1-0 thanks to an RBI single by Michael Russell back in the fourth inning. The Hot Rods held that lead into the sixth and then slowly pieced together a rally against Chiang. The Captains' starter hit Kevin Padlo with a pitch to begin the inning. With one out and Padlo on first, Russell hit a grounder to second base, but Sam Haggerty's throw to second pulled Willi Castro off the bag.
The Hot Rods had two men on with just one out and Brett Sullivan hit a ground ball to first base. Anthony Miller thought about starting a double play, but bobbled the ball and turned around to make the flip to Chiang covering first base. Miller's flip, however, whizzed past Chiang and bounced to the Captains' first base dugout. Padlo and Russell scored to give Bowling Green a 3-0 lead.
Lake County got a run in the seventh against Lopez, but could not muster any more. David Armendariz led off with an infield single and moved to second on a walk to Jose Medina. A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position and another wild pitch scored Armendariz with the Captains' first run. Lopez, however, shut the door with a pair of strikeouts to end the ballgame.
Lopez (4-2) earned the win in game one. He went all seven frames for his first career complete game. Lopez allowed one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out four.
Chiang (8-11) turned in his 13th quality start, but suffered the loss. He also pitched all seven innings and gave up three runs, only one of which was earned. Chiang gave up six hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five.
Game two
The second game started out promising for the Captains. Bobby Ison belted a two-run homer in the second inning and, after a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Russell cut the Lake County lead to one run, Martin Cervenka responded with a two-run double in the fifth to push the Captains' edge to 4-1. In the sixth inning, however, everything fell apart for the home team.
Erick Algarin was on the mound for the start of his second full inning of relief after the right-hander had entered to record the final out of the fourth. Algarin had retired the first four men he faced, but he led off the sixth with a walk to Peter Maris. A walk to Padlo followed and then a walk to David Olmedo-Barrera loaded the bases with nobody out. That spelled the end for Algarin and Kieran Lovegrove came into the ballgame to clean up the mess, but the free passes continued.
Lovegrove's first pitch out of the bullpen hit Russell, forcing in Maris and cutting the Captains' lead to 4-2. Lovegrove then walked Sullivan, trimming the lead to one run and putting the tying run on third. The bases were still loaded with nobody out and David Rodriguez hit a chopper to first base. Medina took the out at first, but Olmedo-Barrera scored from third with the tying run to make it 4-4.
Christian Meister came in from the bullpen after the game-tying ground out, but pinch-hitter Kewby Meyer promptly put the Hot Rods in front. Meyer hit a flare single off the end of the bat to left field and Russell scored the go-ahead run. Bowling Green then extended the lead to 6-4 when a passed ball allowed Sullivan to score.
The Captains came back to tie the game in dramatic and confusing fashion in the bottom of the sixth. With Angel Miguel on first and two outs, Jodd Carter drove a fly ball to deep left-center field. The umpires originally deemed that the ball hit the top of the wall for a double that would have scored Miguel and cut the Captains' deficit to one run. Captains Manager Tony Mansolino argued, however, that the ball bounced over the wall for a home run. The umpires got together and decided that the ball did, indeed, clear the wall, and Carter rounded the bases with a game-tying two-run homer.
The tie did not last long. In the top of the seventh, Russell worked his way on with a two-out single and Sullivan came to the plate. The Captains' outfield was playing back in no-doubles defense and Sullivan hit a blooper into shallow left. Ison raced in, but could not make the catch and the ball bounced past him as he overran it. Russell scored the go-ahead run all the way from first on the bloop double by Sullivan and the Hot Rods took a 7-6 lead.
Lake County put the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh, but could not knot the score. Tim Ingram nailed down his sixth save, leaving Juan De La Cruz on first base.
Hot Rods reliever Bryan Bonnell earned the win. Bonnell (4-2) pitched two innings and allowed three runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out three.
Meister (2-2) took the loss. He went 1.2 innings and allowed one run on four hits. He walked one and did not record a strikeout.
The Captains have lost the first three games of the series against Bowling Green and have now been swept in three doubleheaders by the Hot Rods. Lake County has also fallen to 2.5 games out of the last playoff spot behind the Great Lakes Loons with 12 games remaining in the regular season. Lake County takes on Bowling Green again on Wednesday night at Classic Park. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). 12-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.