RECAP: TinCaps Fall To Lugnuts In Four Hour Affair

BOX SCORE

LANSING, Mich. -- The Fort Wayne TinCaps fell to the Lansing Lugnuts (Oakland Athletics affiliate) on Friday night at Jackson Field, 9-6. The game lasted 4 hours, 2 minutes, which is the first time a TinCaps game has gone over four hours this season.

The Lugnuts (36-40) plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the second, when designated hitter D.J. Lee hit a sacrifice fly to center field to score third baseman Jordan Díaz.

A half-inning later, the TinCaps (35-41) equalized. After Lugnuts starter Reid Birlingmair loaded the bases with three consecutive walks, Fort Wayne first baseman Luis Almanzar lined an RBI single into left. The TinCaps then took the lead in the same inning on a wild pitch, plating right fielder Tirso Ornelas from third.

In the bottom of the third, the erratic pitching continued. TinCaps starter Connor Lehmann, in his TinCaps debut, allowed the first five runners of the inning to reach, including shortstop Cobie Vance and left fielder Patrick McColl, who came in to score. After he recorded an out, Lugnuts right fielder Lester Madden, Jr. drilled a three-run double to left center to empty the bases. Second baseman Yerdel Vargas then singled in Madden to take a 7-2 lead, and the Lugnuts tagged Lehmann for six earned runs in the outing.

The TinCaps cut the deficit to three on a two-run single in the top of the fourth from designated hitter Jonny Homza. In the sixth, they added two more on a sacrifice fly from second baseman Justin Lopez and another RBI hit from Almanzar.

Lansing added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a safety squeeze laid down by Madden to make it 8-6, and a sacrifice fly in the eighth extended their lead to three, which is where it held.

Next Game: Saturday, July 31 @ Lansing (7:05 p.m.)

• Fort Wayne Probable Starter: RHP Carlos Guarate
• Lansing Probable Starter: RHP Colin Peluse

Watch: MiLB.TV

Listen: 1380 The Fan & 100.9 FM | TinCapsRadio.com