Late rally leads Captains to third straight win

(South Bend, IN) – The Lake County Captains (57-48) broke a ninth inning tie for the third straight night for their third consecutive win, beating the South Bend Cubs (46-58) 8-5 on Thursday night at Four Winds Ballpark.

Lake County jumped out to an immediate lead in the top of the first. José Tena and Jhonkensy Noel connected for back to back solo home runs to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.

J**oe Naranjo** continued the home run spree for the Captains in the second when he led off the inning with a solo blast to right field to make the score 3-0, Captains.

The home run party continued in the fifth. Noel smashed his second long ball of the night, a solo shot to left-center, to give Lake County a 4-0 lead.

The Cubs rallied in the bottom of the seventh. Bryce Windham led off with a double, then Liam Spence looped a single to right field to put runners on the corners. Edmond Americaan followed with a high chopping ball up the middle that Tena fielded at short but could not beat Spence to the second base bag. Windham scored and Americaan was on first with an infield single. Luis Vazquez was walked to load the bases with nobody out. Yohendrick Pinango came to the plate and chopped a ball over the leaping third baseman Christian Cairo to drive in Spence and Americaan. Runners were on first and second for Tyler Durna who blooped a double down the left field line that tied the game 4-4 with Pinango trotting home.

With still nobody out in the seventh, the Cubs had runners on second and third. Alexander Canario hit a ground ball to the first basemen Naranjo who fielded and fired a throw to third behind the runner Pinango who was caught leaning and tagged out by Cairo for the first out of the inning. With runners on first and second and one out, Captains’ reliever Jared Janczak struck out two batters in a row, including a nine pitch marathon with Jake Slaughter to end the inning and keep the score tied 4-4.

For the third straight game Lake County and South Bend entered the ninth inning in a tie game. Raynel Delgado led off the top of the ninth with an opposite field double to left center. With one out Quentin Holmes smoked an RBI triple off the right field wall to bring Delgado home and give the Captains a 5-4 lead. Cairo walked to put runners on the corners and stole second base to give the Captains two runners in scoring position. Tena stepped up and smacked a single to left field that brought in both Holmes and Cairo for two insurance runs and a 7-4 Captains lead. Tena advanced to second on a wild pitch and got pushed to third on a sharp single from Noel that bounced off the glove of the third baseman Slaughter but stayed on the infield. Another wild pitch was tossed by the Cubs reliever Tanner Jesson-Dalton which brought in Tena to move the score to 8-4, Lake County.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth the Cubs did not go quietly, when Alexander Canario belted a solo home run to make the score 8-5, Captains.

Z**ach Draper** (2-2) tossed the final two innings for Lake County to earn the win. He allowed one run on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk.

Tanner Jesson-Dalton (1-3) allowed the Captains ninth inning rally and took the loss. He allowed four runs on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts.

H**unter Gaddis** the mound on Friday for game four of the six game series. First pitch between the Captains and Cubs is set for 7:05 at Four Winds Field.

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.