Captains hold off TinCaps comeback

(Fort Wayne, IN) – Seven early runs and a three hit night by Quentin Holmes powered the Lake County Captains (18-16) past the Fort Wayne TinCaps (14-19) on Friday night. The Captains held off a late TinCaps comeback to win game four of their six-game series at Parkview Field, 8-5.

Lake County wasted no time taking the lead in the top of the first inning. Holmes led off with a single and promptly swiped second base. After a Brayan Rocchio groundout moved Holmes to third base, Bryan Lavastida served a soft single into right field to bring home Holmes. Lavastida then stole second base for the second Captains stolen bag of the inning. José Tena came to the plate and hit a sinking line drive to left-center field. TinCaps center fielder Jawaun Harris dove for the ball but it was out of his reach and rolled to the wall. Lavastida scored easily and Tena reached third base for a triple. Joe Naranjo continued the hit parade with a line drive double down the right field line to plate Tena and make the score 3-0, Captains. After Naranjo advanced to third on a groundout, Victor Nova legged out an infield single and Naranjo scored to push the Captains’ lead to 4-0.

Rocchio led off the third inning with a single for the Captains. TinCaps starter Gabe Mosser then walked Lavastida and hit Tena to load the bases with nobody out. Mosser struck out Naranjo, then got

Raynel Delgado to bounce a ball back to the mound. Mosser threw home to force out Rocchio for the second out. With the bases still loaded and two outs, Nova drew a walk to force in Lavastida and extend the Captains’ advantage to 5-0.

Holmes extended his hot streak at the plate and extended the Captains’ lead in the fourth. After Austen Wade led off with a single Holmes crushed a two-run home run to left field. Holmes’ first home run of the season gave the Captains a 7-0 lead. Holmes finished the game 3-for-4 and is now 8-for-14 (.571) since returning from injury.

Fort Wayne came back to score three runs in the sixth inning. After starter Tanner Burns exited, lefty reliever Kellen Rholl entered from the Captains’ bullpen. Rholl loaded the bases with nobody out on a hit-batsman, a single and a walk. Rholl then balked to score Jonnny Homza from third and hit Seamus Curran to load the bases again. Tim Herrin relieved Rholl and got out of the inning, but allowed two more runs to score. A double play off the bat of Tirso Ornelas plated Reinaldo Ilarraza and Justin Lopez singled to score Agustin Ruiz. That cut the Captains’ lead to 7-3.

Back-to-back singles by Ilarraza and Ruiz started a rally for the TinCaps in the eighth. With runners on the corners, Herrin struck out Curran for the first out. Ornelas followed and hit a high chopping ball to second base. Tena flipped to Rocchio for one out, but the Captains could not turn two. Ilarraza scored from third to make the score 7-4, Captains.

Lake County added an insurance run in the top of the ninth due to miscues from the TinCaps. Wade walked to lead off the inning. He moved to second on a wild pitch. Homza, the TinCaps’ catcher, tried to pick Wade off of second, but the ball ricocheted off of Wade into right center. Wade advanced to third on the error. Another wild pitch allowed Wade to trot home and give the Captains an 8-4 lead.

The TinCaps rallied again in the bottom of the ninth. Melean and Alarcon both singled to start the inning. Captains reliever Kevin Kelly struck Harris out looking for the first out of the inning. That brought Homza to the dish. He launched a double to left-center field to chase home Melean and make the score 8-5, Captains. Kelly struck out Ilarraza for the second out, then got Ruiz to fly out to deep center field to end the ball game.

Burns (2-2) logged five shutout innings with six strikeouts for the Captains to earn the win. He surrendered just one hit and three walks.

Mosser (1-3) allowed seven runs in four innings of work for Fort Wayne. He surrendered eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Eric Mock makes his Captains debut on the mound on Saturday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. from Parkview Field.

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.