Captains Outlasted by Lansing 5-2 in Fourth Game of Series

EASTLAKE, OH – In the fourth game of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (5-7) fell to the Lansing Lugnuts (6-7) by a final score of 5-2 on Friday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

Lansing struck first in the top of the second inning, when DH Cameron Masterman ripped an RBI single to score SS Euribiel Ángeles, who hit a one-out triple in the previous at-bat.

But Lake County answered in the bottom of the third, when 1B C.J. Kayfus rolled a ground ball through the left side of the Lansing infield to score DH Jose Devers, MLB Pipeline’s No. 19 Cleveland prospect, tying the game at 1-1. This base-knock extended both Kayfus’s hitting and RBI streaks to five games.

Lansing RHP Jacob Watters then retired the next two batters in C Cooper Ingle and LF Jorge Burgos, beginning a stretch of 11 straight Captains batters retired.

Immediately after, Lugnuts CF Henry Bolte, MLB Pipeline’s No. 11 Oakland prospect, hit a leadoff solo home run to begin the fourth inning off of Lake County LHP Parker Messick (0-2), MLB Pipeline’s No. 21 Cleveland prospect. Messick recovered by retiring five of his next six batters faced, ultimately allowing one earned run on two hits while throwing seven strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work. However, the left-hander suffered his second loss of the season.

Captains LHP Adam Tulloch then entered the game, eventually allowing a two-out RBI single to Bolte in the fifth that made the score 3-1. Soon after, Lansing 1B Will Simpson, MLB Pipeline’s No. 30 Oakland prospect, scored on a wild pitch to extend the Lugnuts’ lead to 4-1. Tulloch later pitched a scoreless sixth inning, ending the night allowing two hits, one earned run, and one walk, while throwing one strikeout.

Lake County got back on the board in the top of the seventh, when SS Alex Mooney, MLB Pipeline’s No. 20 Cleveland prospect, began the half-inning with his third home run of the season, cutting the Captains’ deficit to 4-2. CF Jonah Advincula singled two batters later, extending his on-base streak to nine games. But Lake County did not score for the rest of the night, as the team’s final seven hitters were eventually retired.

First pitch for the fifth game of this week’s scheduled six-game series between the Captains and Lugnuts is scheduled for Saturday night at 6:35 p.m. Lake County will be celebrating Grass Appreciation Day at the ballpark. 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

- With his leadoff home run in the bottom of the seventh, Alex Mooney has now hit three home runs in his first nine High-A games. Mooney is the fastest Captain to hit three home runs in their Lake County career since José Tena slugged three in eight games in 2021.

- With seven strikeouts on Friday night, Parker Messick has posted five straight starts with 7+ punchouts dating back to 9/3/2023 at Quad Cities.

- With his game-tying RBI single in the bottom of the third inning, C.J. Kayfus extended both his hitting and RBI streaks to five games. The 2023 third-round pick’s RBI streak is the longest active streak in the Midwest League. During this span, Kayfus is hitting .368 (7-for-19) with three runs scored, one double, two home runs, seven RBI, one walk, two stolen bases, and a 1.137 OPS.

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]