Captains slam 17 hits in 13-3 win at Quad Cities

(Davenport, IA) - Emmanuel Tapia homered for the third time in four games and the Lake County Captains (11-17) set a season-high with 17 hits in a 13-3 victory over the Quad Cities River Bandits (15-12) on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park. Five different Captains tallied multiple hits and three knocked in multiple runs in the win.
The Captains' offense got going in a hurry. Trenton Brooks led off the game with a double off of River Bandits starter Forrest Whitley and Alexis Pantoja followed with a single to put runners on the corners with nobody out. Whitley struck out the next batter, but Li-Jen Chu put the Captains on the board with an RBI single throught he left side that plated Brooks with the first run of the game. 

Tapia came up next and launched a blast that set the tone for the rest of the game. The slugging lefty belted a three-run homer to the party deck over the right field wall. Tapia's team-leading seventh homer gave the Captains a 4-0 lead. It was Tapia's second straight day with a long ball.
Whitley exited after just two innings, but the Captains kept the bats hot against reliever Reggie Johnson. Lake County scored five runs in the third inning against the right-hander. Todd Isaacs knocked in the first two runs of the frame with a single. After Isaacs' single, Isaacs stood on first and Luke Wakamatsu was on third when Johnson tried to pick off Isaacs. Johnson's throw, however, sailed high and bounced down the right field line. Wakamatsu scored on the error and Isaacs raced to third. Jorma Rodriguez then hit a ground out that scored Isaacs to give the Captains an 8-0 lead. The Captains added another run in the frame when Brooks roped his second double, this time scoring Conner Capel who had worked a walk.
The Captains tacked on another run in the fourth. Logan Ice led off with a walk and moved to second on a passed ball. Tapia then singled to put runners on the corners and Wakamatsu delivered an RBI ground out to score Ice and give Lake County a 10-0 advantage.
Quad Cities struck back in the fourth. Marcos Almonte doubled against Captains starter Justin Garza to start the inning and then the right-hander walked Alex De Goti. Two batters later, Randy Cesar hit a two-run double down the right field line. Rodrigo Ayarza later drove home Cesar with a single, cutting the Captains' lead to 10-3.
Nobody scored again until the ninth inning when the Captains added three insurance runs against lefty reliever Salvador Montano. Lake County loaded the bases with one out. Pantoja and Juan De La Cruz then slammed back-to-back RBI singles and Chu worked a bases-loaded walk to push the Captains' advantage to 10 runs at 13-3.
The Captains' pitching staff shut down Quad Cities all night. Garza (1-0) earned his first professional victory. In his first start of the season, the right-hander pitched five innings and allowed three runs on four hits. He struck out four and walked one. Ben Krauth followed with three shutout innings out of the bullpen and Domingo Jimenez worked around a single and a double to shutout the River Bandits in the ninth and seal the victory.
Whitley (1-1) took the loss for Quad Cities. The right-hander only pitched two innings because of a strict pitch limit enforced by the River Bandits' parent club, the Houston Astros. Whitley struck out six batters, but surrendered four runs on five hits. He did not record an out on a ball in play on Saturday night.
Saturday's game began on a strange note. In the top of the first inning, Pantoja stepped to the plate with Brooks on second and nobody out. After the first pitch to Pantoja, Quad Cities manager Russ Steinhorn walked out of the dugout and asked home plate umpire Donnie Smith to check the Captains' lineup card. As it turned out, Miguel Eladio, not Pantoja, was penciled into the number two spot in the Lake County order. The result was that Pantoja was allowed to continue the at-bat, but as a pinch-hitter for Eladio, who was ruled out for the rest of the contest.
The Captains and River Bandits play the rubber game of their three-game series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 2:15 p.m. EST at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, IA.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games 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 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.