Captains Allow Five Unanswered Runs in 6-1 Loss to Lugnuts

EASTLAKE, OH – In the second game of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (4-6) fell to the Lansing Lugnuts (5-6) by a final score of 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

This marks Lake County’s fifth consecutive loss, extending their first multi-game losing streak of the season.

With two outs in the top of the fourth inning, and the game tied at 1-1, Captains RHP Jake Miller (1-1) allowed a two-out, go-ahead RBI single to Lansing SS Euribiel Ángeles, which began a stretch of five unanswered Lugnuts runs. Miller pitched four innings in his second appearance (first start) of the season for Lake County, allowing five hits, two earned runs, and no walks, while throwing four strikeouts in 57 pitches (41 strikes).

Two innings later, after giving up a triple to Lansing RF Henry Bolte, Lake County LHP Steve Hajjar surrendered a sacrifice fly to make the score 3-1. Captains RF Guy Lipscomb made a diving catch in foul territory to record the out on the play.

Hajjar then allowed a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, which extended the Lugnuts’ lead to 5-1. He then exited the game after issuing two consecutive walks to the next two Lansing hitters. Lake County RHP Jay Driver would enter the game and allow another two-out RBI single to Ángeles, which gave the Lugnuts a 6-1 advantage. This run would be charged to Hajjar.

The Captains left-hander pitched 3.2 innings of relief, allowing three hits, four earned runs, and three walks, while throwing three strikeouts in 65 pitches (38 strikes).

Driver fared well for the rest of his High-A home debut, retiring four of the last five Lansing hitters he faced. The right-hander ultimately pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks, and throwing one strikeout in 22 pitches (16 strikes).

Lake County’s only run of the day came in the bottom of the first inning, when 1B C.J. Kayfus hit a solo home run on the first pitch he saw on Wednesday afternoon. This was his second home run of the season, which extended his RBI streak to four games. He later hit a broken-bat single in the bottom of the eighth inning to complete his second multi-hit game of the season.

Offensively, Captains 3B Maick Collado and RF Guy Lipscomb each hit a pair of singles, and LF Justin Boyd hit a double to round out the team’s total of seven hits on the day. With two hits on Wednesday, Lipscomb now has a five-game hitting streak.

First pitch for the third game of this week’s scheduled six-game series between the Captains and Lugnuts is scheduled for Thursday night at 6:35 p.m. Lake County will host its first “Dawg Day” of the season at the ballpark, where dogs will get in for free, and the team will pay special tribute to Bernese Mountain Dogs. The game will be broadcast on both the Bally Live app and MiLB.TV, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on both X and Instagram.

Notes To Know

- C.J. Kayfus has hit safely and recorded at least one RBI in each of his last four games. During this span, the 2023 third-round pick out of Miami (FL) is hitting 6-for-15 (.400) with three runs scored, one double, two home runs, six RBI, a .438 on-base percentage, a .867 slugging percentage, and a 1.305 OPS.

- Guy Lipscomb extended his hitting streak to five games with the first multi-hit game of his High-A career (2-for-4). During this streak, the 2022 fifth-round pick out of Belmont is hitting 6-for-16 (.375) with two runs scored, one triple, four RBI, four walks, three stolen bases, a .500 on-base percentage, .500 slugging percentage, and a 1.000 OPS.

- Maick Collado has now reached base in each of his last five games. With two singles on Wednesday afternoon, the 21-year-old is now hitting 5-for-15 (.333) this season with a .565 on-base percentage.

The Lake County Captains are the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, and have been a Class A Affiliate of Cleveland since the team was founded in 2003. To find out more information about the Captains or purchase tickets, visit CaptainsBaseball.com, or call (440) 975-8085.

Contact: Logan Potosky, Play-by-Play Broadcaster & Media Relations Assistant
[email protected]