Captains hold off TinCaps for second straight win

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains (5-3) narrowly escaped with their second consecutive win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (3-4) on Wednesday night at Classic Park. Logan Allen led the way on the hill and the Captains scratched across five runs to beat Fort Wayne, 5-3.

Allen pitched through trouble to hold Fort Wayne scoreless over five innings. The lefty stranded seven baserunners, including five in scoring position. Allen struck out seven, walked two and surrendered five hits. As his last act, Allen escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. The Captains’ starter struck out Tirso Ornelas looking to leave the bags full.

José Tena keyed the Captains’ offense early. The Lake County leadoff hitter began the first by dunking a single down the left field line. Tena moved to second on a ground out and promptly stole third. George Valera knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to center to put the Captains ahead, 1-0.

Lake County took a 2-0 lead in the second. Raynel Delgado singled with one out and stole second. He later came home on an infield single by Daniel Schneemann.

Tena added to the Captains’ lead in the third. On the second pitch of the inning from TinCaps starter Matt Waldron, Tena blasted a solo home run over the stilted signs in right-centerfield. The leadoff homer was Tena’s first long ball of the year and gave the Captains a 3-0 advantage.

The Captains hustled their way to a fourth run in the fifth inning. Tena singled and moved to second on a wid pick off throw by Waldron. With two outs, Bryan Lavastida hit a high chopper up the middle. Second baseman Reinaldo Ilarraza backhanded the ball near second base and threw across his body to first, but Lavastida beat the throw. Meanwhile, Tena raced around third and scored all the way from second base to give the Captains a 4-0 lead.

In the sixth inning, Joe Naranjo reached on a leadoff walk. He stole second and advanced to third on an Austen Wade groundout. With two outs in the inning, Schneeman delivered another RBI single to extend the Captains’ lead to 5-0.

The TinCaps answered in the top of the seventh. With two outs, Jawaun Harris hit a towering pop fly that the Captains fielders lost in the lights. The ball dropped in shallow left field for a double. One batter later, Ilarazza tripled down the right field line to cut the Captains’ lead to 5-1.

Fort Wayne continued its comeback in the eighth inning with a leadoff double by Ornelas. After two strikeouts by Captains reliever Nic Enright, Luis Almanzar ripped a double to left field to plate Ornelas. Ethan Skender singled to center, which drove home Almanzar, to narrow the Captains’ advantage to 5-3. Following a walk to Adam Kerner that put men on first and second with two outs, Nick Gallagher relieved Enright and struck out Harris to end the threat.

Gallagher (1) closed out the game for the Captains in the ninth to earn his first save of the season. Gallagher retired all four batters he faced and struck out three.

Waldron (0-1) took the loss for the TinCaps. The right-hander allowed four runs, three earned, over 4.2 innings. Waldron struck out three, surrendered eight hits and walked one.

The Captains will look for their third straight win against Fort Wayne on Thursday. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Classic Park.

A**bout 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.