(Lansing, MI) - Despite only tallying two hits on Thursday night, the Lake County Captains (6-6) squeaked out a win in the rubber game of their three-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts (7-5). Aided by four errors by Lansing shortstop Kevin Vicuña, the Captains' offense scratched across four unearned runs
(Lansing, MI) - Despite only tallying two hits on Thursday night, the Lake County Captains (6-6) squeaked out a win in the rubber game of their three-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts (7-5). Aided by four errors by Lansing shortstop Kevin Vicuña, the Captains' offense scratched across four unearned runs and the Lake County bullpen tight-rope walked to a 4-3 victory.
Back-to-back errors opened the door for the Captains to strike first in the second inning. Oscar Gonzalez led off with a sharp single to right field and Lugnuts starter Yennsy Diaz walked Austen Wade . With two on and one out, Todd Isaacs hit a sky-high pop up on the third base line. Vicuna waltzed under the fly ball, but the ball popped out of his mitt for an error to load the bases.
Jonathan Laureano followed the error with a chance to open the scoring. Laureano hit a soft chopper to shallow shortstop. Vicuna charged, fielded and threw off-balance, but his throw skipped in the dirt and first baseman Kacy Clemens could not scoop the ball, allowing Gonzalez to score the game's first run. Two batters later, Ernie Clement smacked a bases-loaded, two-out single to right field. Wade scored easily and Isaacs hustled behind him as right fielder Brock Lundquist uncorked a throw home. Isaacs beat the throw, but Clement, seeing the throw go to the plate, broke for second. Catcher Matt Morgan quickly whipped a throw to second base to nab Clement and end the inning, but the Captains already had a 3-0 lead.
Lake County was on top early, but Lansing perpetually threatened. In the second inning, Lugnuts DH Christian Williams led off with a double down the right field line and moved to third on a ground out. Captains starter Francisco Perez then walked Matt Morgan to put runners on the corners with one out. Chavez Young came up next and hit a grounder off the end of the bat that looked destined for right field. A hit would have driven in Williams with Lansing's first run, but the ball struck Morgan for runner's interference. Morgan was out, Williams was forced to return to third and Young was credited with a single. Perez then got Samad Taylor to fly out to centerfield for the final out of the inning, ending the threat with runners left on the corners.
The Lugnuts did come back to tie the score with two runs in the third and another run in the fourth. In the third, Vicuna and Clemens hit back-to-back singles to start the inning. Perez then walked Ryan Noda and issued another free pass to Kevin Smith with the bases loaded, forcing home Vicuna. Williams followed by grounding into a double play, but that still scored Clemens to cut Lake County's lead to 3-2.
The Lugnuts tied the score in the fourth, but reliever James Karinchak came out of the bullpen to save the day. Perez walked Morgan to begin the inning and then walked Taylor with one out. Vicuna followed with a single to center, but a strong throw home by Wade forced the lead runner, Morgan, to hold up at third. With the bases loaded, however, Perez unleashed a wild pitch that scored Morgan with the tying run.
With the score tied, 3-3, the Lugnuts had runners on second and third with one out. Perez then walked Clemens, the starter's seventh walk of the night, to load the bases. After the lefty struck out Noda for out number two, the Captains called on Karinchak to keep the score tied. Karinchak did just that, striking out Smith swinging to leave the bases loaded and maintain the tie.
Karinchak was dominant out of the bullpen and helped keep the score tied. The right-hander retired all seven men he faced over 2.1 innings. Karinchack (2-0), who ultimately picked up the win, struck out five, including four in a row to end his outing.
Karinchak carried the Captains through the sixth and, in the seventh, Lake County's offense came through with the go-ahead run. Lansing called on lefty Brody Rodning to pitch the seventh. The southpaw got Isaacs to pop up for the first out, but followed with a walk to Laureano. After a wild pitch moved Laureano to second, Tyler Friis hit a sharp grounder to shortstop. Vicuna, who had made two errors in the Captains' three-run second and another in the fifth, watched as the ball glanced off the heel of his glove for another fielding miscue to put runners on the corners. Clement, who drove in three of the four Captains runs, hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Laureano to trot home and give the Captains a 4-3 lead.
Lefty reliever Kyle Nelson took the torch from Karinchak and carried it without stumbling through the seventh and eighth. Nelson set down all six men he faced in those innings, giving the Captains' pitchers 14 consecutive outs. In the ninth, however, Young broke up the streak with a leadoff single and Taylor bunted him up to second base. That brought up Vicuna with the tying run on second and a chance for redemption. The shortstop, who had been 3-for-4 at the plate entering the ninth, dribbled a 20-foot roller down the third base line for an infield single. Lansing had runners on the corners with one out and the Captains were clinging to a one-run lead, but Nelson made a big pitch. In a 1-1 count against the lefty-hitting Clemens, Nelson induced a grounder to second base and Jorma Rodriguez started a game-ending, 4-6-3 double play. The twin-killing sealed the series for the Captains and gave Nelson his first save of the year.
Rodning (1-1) took the loss for the Lugnuts. The lefty pitched two innings and allowed one unearned run without giving up a hit. He walked one and struck out one. All of Lake County's runs on Thursday were unearned by Lansing pitching.
The Captains took two out of three games from the Lugnuts to grab their second series win of the year. Lake County will head back to Eastlake to start a seven-game homestand, beginning with a three-game series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. First pitch for game one on Friday is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-<st1:stockticker w:st="on">WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.
