Oviedo helps Captains shutout Hot Rods

(Eastlake, OH) - For the second start in a row, Luis Oviedo held his opponents scoreless. The right-hander spun five shutout frames on Wednesday against the Bowling Green Hot Rods (3-4), to lead the Lake County Captains (5-2) to a 7-0 victory at Classic Park.

Oviedo (2-0) started his season by blanking the Great Lakes Loons over five innings on Opening Night and followed up that performance with a similar start against the Hot Rods. With the help of two inning-ending double plays in the first and third innings, Oviedo pitched five scoreless innings with two strikeouts, three walks and four hits allowed. The right-hander eventually earned the win thanks to a Captains offense that struck early and often.
Lake County warmed up the bats in the first against Hot Rods starter Shane McClanahan and knocked the lefty out of the game in a hurry. McClanahan started the game by walking Tyler Freeman and Jose Fermin before Mitch Reeves singled up the middle to plate Freeman with the game's first run. With two on and nobody out, McClanahan then tried to pick Fermin off of second, but the pitcher's throw sailed into centerfield and Fermin scored all the way from second to make it 2-0. After McClanahan struck out Ruben Cardenas for the first out, Josh Rolette ripped a double to right-center that brought home Reeves to extend the Captains' lead to 3-0. McClanahan (1-1) followed with a walk to Quentin Holmes and was quickly pulled from the game after recording just one out in the first. He ultimately took the loss and was charged with three runs on two hits with three walks and one strikeout.
The Captains' offense stayed hot against the Hot Rods' bullpen. Facing lefty Steffon Moore in the second, Freeman hit a one-out blooper to right and hustled to second for a double when the diving try by right fielder Bryce Brown came up empty. Fermin came up next and launched a two-run homer into the left field bleachers to make it 5-0.
Lake County added one run each in the fourth and fifth innings. Cardenas added to his team-leading RBI total with a single off of Moore that plated Fermin in the fourth. The single gave Cardenas seven RBI on the season and pushed the lead to 6-0. In the fifth, lefty Trey Cumbie walked four men, including Reeves with the bases loaded to force in Marcos Gonzalez from third and give the Captains their final run in a 7-0 win.
The Captains have taken two out of three from Bowling Green and will try to nail down a series victory on Thursday night. First pitch at Classic Park is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
Information about Classic Park or the Captains can be found online at www.captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-<st1:stockticker w:st="on">WINS (9467). Affordable ticket packages and group party and picnic options are available now.