(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (23-15) pushed their winning streak to four straight games with a come-from-behind, walk-off victory in 10 innings over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (22-18) on Thursday night at Classic Park. Connor Smith scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th
(Eastlake, OH) - The Lake County Captains (23-15) pushed their winning streak to four straight games with a come-from-behind, walk-off victory in 10 innings over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (22-18) on Thursday night at Classic Park. Connor Smith scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to clinch a 5-4 win for the Captains in the opener of a four-game series.
After a strong opening frame for Captains starter Juan Mota , it looked like the Captains were going to duplicate their hot start from Wednesday with a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame. Will Benson, Mitch Reeves, and Jesse Berardi all hit two out singles, but Benson was tagged out at home plate after trying to score from second on Berardi's single. Tony Pena threw Benson out at the dish to end the early threat.
The second inning told a different story, as the Hot Rods got on the board first. Grant Witherspoon drilled a solo home run to left field and Connor Hollis traversed the base paths on a single, a throwing error on a pickoff and a wild pitch from Mota to push the Hot Rods' lead to 2-0. Mota's day ended early and the right-hander gave way to the bullpen after the second inning. Skylar Arias was the first of four relief pitchers used by the Captains in the ballgame.
The score remained 2-0 until the top of the fourth inning. Arias hit Pena with a pitch and the lefty was then called for a balk, allowing Pena to advance to second base. Pena later scored on an RBI single by Roberto Alvarez to give the Hot Rods the 3-0 advantage over the Captains.
The Hot Rods threatened to add to their lead in the top of the seventh, but Berardi flashed the leather to keep Bowling Green from tacking on insurance runs. Bowling Green loaded the bases with one out, thanks to two walks and a hit-batsman by right-hander Luis Araujo . Lefty Eli Lingos came in to relieve Araujo and faced Ford Proctor. The lefty batter smashed a grounder to second and Berardi made a spectacular diving stop. He rolled over, fed Tyler Freeman at second and started an inning-ending double play to get the Captains out of the jam.
For most of the game, it appeared the three runs would be enough for the Hot Rods. Their starting pitcher, Caleb Sampen, was dealing a gem through six innings. In the first six frames, Sampen pitched shutout baseball and only allowed four hits. The right-hander even had a stretch where he retired 10 Captains hitters in a row from the third through the sixth innings. However, all of that changed in the bottom of the seventh.
The inning started when Sampen walked Mitch Reeves and allowed a single to Berardi, giving Lake County runners on first and second with nobody out. Sampen struck out the next two hitters, but Miguel Jerez stepped to the plate and smoked a two-run double down the left field line, scoring both Reeves and Berardi to pull the Captains within one run. Hosea Nelson followed with an RBI double of his own. Nelson's line drive to right skipped to the wall and brought Jerez across home plate to tie the score at 3-3.
The Captains took their first lead of the night in the eighth inning. Bowling Green brought right-hander Chris Muller in from the bullpen and Will Benson connected. Benson blasted a solo home run onto the roof of the batting cage facility beyond the wall in right field to give Lake County the 4-3 edge.
Lake County's lead was quickly erased in the top half of the ninth. Pena and Roberto Alvarez each hit singles off of Manuel Alvarez to put men on the corners with nobody out. Two batters later, Jake Palomaki hit an RBI single to score Pena and tie the score, once again, at 4-4. Alvarez then struck out the next two hitters to send the game to extra innings.
Per minor league rules, the Hot Rods began the top of the 10th with Tampa Bay Rays top prospect Wander Franco on second base as the free runner. Franco quickly moved to third on a wild pitch by Alvarez, bringing the Hot Rods 90 feet away from taking the lead with nobody out. Berardi, however, came to the rescue again. The Captains' second baseman capped off his outstanding defensive performance by scooping up a one-hop grounder off the bat of Kaleo Johnson and throwing out Franco at home plate. Berardi also started the inning-ending double play on a sharp grounder by Witherspoon to keep the score tied heading to the bottom of the 10th.
The Captains chose to use Connor Smith as a pinch runner, replacing Jerez as the free runner on second in the bottom of the 10th, but he did not stay there long. With Nelson at the plate, Muller threw two wild pitches. The first advanced Smith to third and the second sent him home to give the Captains a 5-4 victory. Lake County did not register an at-bat in the game-winning 10th-inning.
Although Alvarez was unable to nail down the save in the ninth inning for Lake County, he came away with the victory. Alvarez (2-1) pitched two innings and gave up just one earned run on three hits. He struck out three and did not issue a walk.
Muller (0-1) suffered the loss for Bowling Green. He also pitched two innings, but allowed two runs to score, one of which was earned. The right-hander surrendered just one hit, struck out five hitters and did not allow a walk.
The Captains are back in action tomorrow with game two of a four-game series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Friday night. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.
