‘Caps Take Seesaw Battle From T-Rats, 6-3
APPLETON, WI – The West Michigan Whitecaps finished on the winning end of a back-and-forth affair and held on thanks to an outstanding performance from their bullpen as part of a 6-3 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field. A game that featured four
APPLETON, WI – The West Michigan Whitecaps finished on the winning end of a back-and-forth affair and held on thanks to an outstanding performance from their bullpen as part of a 6-3 victory over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Thursday night at Neuroscience Group Field.
A game that featured four different lead changes in the first five innings watched West Michigan take the lead for good on a tiebreaking two-run single from Luke Gold. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps bullpen finished the contest tossing 5.1 scoreless innings allowing just three hits while striking out five as part of the victory.
Wisconsin scored the game’s first run in the opening frame, when outfielder Hedbert Perez led off the bottom of the first with a long home run to right field to give the T-Rats a 1-0 lead. In the second, the ‘Caps battled back in a frame that saw run-scoring singles from Abel Bastidas and Johnny Peck to take a 2-1 lead. In the fourth, it was the Timber Rattlers who stormed back when outfielder Luiyin Alastre delivered a go-ahead, two-run single to retake the edge at 3-2. In the fifth, the Whitecaps finally stormed back for good. What began as a see-saw affair watched West Michigan score three times as catcher Archer Brookman collected a game-tying RBI-single before Luke Gold broke a 3-3 tie with a two-run single later in the frame, giving the ‘Caps a 5-3 lead. A wild pitch by Wisconsin reliever Zach Peek scored another run for a Whitecaps team that drew a total of eight walks in the contest, including three for Josue Briceño at the plate.
The Whitecaps record improves to 16-8 with the victory, while the T-Rats fall to 9-15. ‘Caps reliever Jordan Marks (1-0) tossed 1.1 innings in critical early relief to pick up his first win of the season, while Wisconsin starter Chandler Welch (0-2) gave up four runs in 4.2 frames while walking five batters in taking his second loss of the season. Max Clark led the way with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate. The Whitecaps bullpen has now pitched 18.2 innings through the first three games of this six-game series, allowing just one earned run (0.48 ERA).
UP NEXT
The continue this six-game road series against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers continues on Friday night at 7:40 pm. Pitcher Rayner Castillo gets the start for West Michigan against Wisconsin righty Bishop Letson. Broadcast coverage with Nate Wangler starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:25 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids to catch all the action, or listen to the game live at whitecapsbaseball.com.