Doubles party leads Captains past Lansing
(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains tied a season-high with six doubles in a come-from-behind victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Sunday afternoon at Classic Park. Angel Miguel delivered the biggest two-bagger of the day with a three-run double in the fourth to put the Captains ahead for good in an 8-6 victory.
The ballgame went back-and-forth over the first two innings. Lansing took a quick lead in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly by J.B. Woodman, but the Captains responded and took the lead on a two-run homer by Martin Cervenka in the bottom half of the opening frame. Lake County's lead was short-lived, however. Lansing rallied and scored twice on RBI singles by Ryan Hissey and Cavan Biggio to go back ahead, 3-2.
Lansing pushed its lead to 4-2 with a solo homer by Ryan Metzler in the fourth, but Lake County surged ahead with a doubles party in the bottom of the inning. Andrew Calica led off with a ringing two-bagger off the right field wall and Li-Jen Chu followed two batters later with a double down the left field line that brought Calica to the plate and pulled the Captains within one run.
The Captains kept rallying, even after a strikeout tallied the second out in the inning. With Chu on second, Sam Haggerty worked a walk and Jose Medina nearly knotted the score. Medina hit a hot shot up the middle, but second baseman Cavan Biggio made a diving stop to save the tying run from scoring. Though Biggio's play kept the Lugnuts in front, that lead did not last long. With the bases loaded and two outs, Miguel grounded a double down the left field line. Chu, Haggerty Medina and scored to give Lake County a 6-4 advantage.
The doubles explosion continued in the fifth, as the Captains pulled further ahead. Chu came to the plate once again with a runner aboard and one out. The Captains' DH slammed another double to score Cervenka and give Lake County a 7-4 lead. David Armendariz came up next and hit a high fly ball to center field that Joshua Palacios lost in the sun. The ball fell for another double and Chu scored to extend the lead to 8-4.
Lake County had a scare on the mound in the seventh and Lansing pulled closer on the scoreboard. Yoiber Marquina came out to pitch the seventh, but only lasted three pitches before being removed from the game by the Captains' coaching staff. Marquina had been on the disabled list from July 15 to August 19.
Christian Meister came in from the bullpen and the Lugnuts scored a couple runs to make it an 8-6 ballgame. Woodman singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Lane Thomas then walked and Connor Panas singled to load the bases. Carl Wise came up next and hit a single to left field that scored Woodman. The play seemed over, but Carter's relay throw from left field hit Haggerty in the foot and caromed toward the third base dugout. Thomas hustled home for another run to trim the Captains' lead to two runs.
The two-run play in the seventh turned out to be the final time Lansing scored on Sunday. Both teams loaded the bases later on, but both sides came up empty. Erick Algarin took care of the final four outs for the Captains. He struck out Thomas in the eighth to leave the bases loaded and end the inning. In the ninth, Algarin hit Panas to lead off the frame, but struck out Wise and got Hissey to bounce into a game-ending double play. Algarin picked up his second save of the year with the four-out effort.
Captains reliever Argenis Angulo earned the win with three scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Angulo (2-0) allowed just one hit, no walks and struck out three.
Lugnuts starter Justin Maese suffered the loss after allowing eight runs over six innings. Maese (1-4) surrendered nine hits, walked a pair and struck out eight.
The Captains have won three in a row against Lansing and will try for a four-game sweep of the Lugnuts on Monday night. First pitch at Classic Park 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). Season tickets, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.