Captains out-blast Loons in series opening win

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains (37-30) crushed four home runs to top the Great Lakes Loons (36-31) 7-5 in a slugfest on Tuesday in their return to Classic Park.

Three extra base hits resulted in three first inning runs for the Captains to open the game. Will Brennan led off the bottom of the first with a double to right center. With two outs, George Valera hooked a triple to the right field corner that drove Brennan home. José Tena wasted no time continuing the rally with a line drive home run to right field that put the Captains on top 3-0 after the first inning.

With one out in the top of the second Brandon Lewis launched a high fly ball that left the yard to center field for a solo home run for the Loons, making the score 3-1, Captains.

In the second the barrage of home runs continued when Raynel Delgado connected on his third home run of the season with a solo home run to push the Captains lead to 4-1.

Another homer cut the Captains’ lead to 4-2 in the fourth. Ryan Ward led off the frame by belting a solo shot off the videoboard in right-center field.

Brayan Rocchio was the next to connect in the bottom of the fifth. Brennan extended the inning with a two-out single against Loons starter Jesus Vargas. Jack Little came in to relieve Vargas and Rocchio blasted a two-run home run to right-center to give the Captains a 6-2 lead.

Valera joined the long ball party in the sixth. Leading off the inning against Little, Valera belted a ball over the right field wall to give the Captains a 7-2 lead. The homer was Valera’s fifth in his last nine games.

The Loons kept the home run spree going in the top of the seventh. Deacon Liput led off the inning with a walk. WIth one out James Outman lifted a high fly ball that carried over the center field wall for a two-run blast to cut the Captains lead to 7-4.

Ryan Ward made the score 7-5, Captains in the eighth inning when he led off the frame with his second solo home run of the night.

Jared Janczak (4-0) held the lead for the Captains to earn the win in 2.2 innings of relief. He walked five with four strikeouts

Jesus Vargas (5-3) allowed five runs on six hits in 4.2 innings to take the loss. He struck out five without a walk.

Kevin Kelly (7) finished the game for the Captains over the final 1.1 innings to earn the save. He set down four consecutive Loons to finish the game for Lake County.

Xzavion Curry gets the ball for the Captains on Wednesday. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Classic Park.

About the Captains

The Lake County Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. For more information, visit the Captains’ website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com, Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CaptainsBaseball, Twitter @LCCaptains and Instagram @LCCaptains. Fans can also get the latest Captains news and offers by signing up for the Captains’ newsletter, The Anchor.