Globe iconLogin iconRecap iconSearch iconTickets icon
High-A Affiliate
The Official Site of the Lake County Captains Lake County Captains

Dayton edges Captains in 11

Tanner Burns pitched five scoreless innings on Wednesday in the Captains' 11-inning loss. (Tim Phillis - TCP Photography)
September 8, 2021

(Eastlake, OH) – Despite a first-inning homer by Christian Cairo and lights-out starting pitching by Tanner Burns, the Lake County Captains (59-51) took a tough loss in 11 innings against the Dayton Dragons (57-53). Dayton scored three runs in the top of the 11th and the Captains left the bases

(Eastlake, OH) – Despite a first-inning homer by Christian Cairo and lights-out starting pitching by Tanner Burns, the Lake County Captains (59-51) took a tough loss in 11 innings against the Dayton Dragons (57-53). Dayton scored three runs in the top of the 11th and the Captains left the bases loaded in the bottom half to take a 4-1 loss on Wednesday afternoon at Classic Park.

Cairo led off the bottom of the first inning with an opposite field home run that just snuck over the right field wall to give the Captains a 1-0 lead.

After seven shutout innings, Dayton tied the game in the eighth inning. James Free launched a solo home run to right center off of Nick Gallagher to tie the score, 1-1.

The game remained tied into extra innings, thanks to dominant pitching. Gallagher, Andrew Misiaszek and Kevin Kelly combined to hold Dayton to one run over four innings. Burns had pitched five scoreless frames to start the contest. On the flip side, Dragons starter Christian Roa allowed just one run over seven frames. Francis Peguero then pitched two scoreless to send the game to extras.

The Captains had a golden opportunity to win the game in the bottom of the 10th. Joe Naranjo started the inning on second base as the free runner and moved to third with one out on a ground out. Dragons reliever Stevie Branche struck out Quentin Holmes, but hit Raynel Delgado. After Delgado took second on defensive indifference, Branche got pinch hitter Mike Amditis to pop out in foul ground to Juan Martinez outside of first base to end the inning.

Dayton took the lead in the 11th. VIctor Ruiz was the free runner on second base. With one out, Jack Rogers ripped a line drive to right that bounced under Holmes’ glove in right. Ruiz scored as the ball skipped to the wall to give the Dragons a 2-1 lead. Captains reliever

Tim Herrin then walked Jacob Hurtubise to put men on first and second. Matt McLain followed and hit a deep drive to left-center, but Julian Escobedo made a catch, running into the wall. Ivan Johnson and pinch-hitter Jonathan Willems followed with back-to-back RBI singles to stretch Dayton’s lead to 4-1.

Branche presented the Captains with another opportunity in the bottom of the 11th. With Amditis starting the inning on second, the reliever walked Escobedo and Cairo to load the bases. The Dragons went to the bullpen again and brought in Vincent Timpanelli (3), who promptly retired the next three men to seal the game and earn the save.

Branche (2-0) picked up the win. The right-hander worked one inning and did not allow a run, thanks to Timpanelli’s relief efforts. Branche walked two, hit a batter, struck out one and did not allow a hit.

Herrin (4-3) took the loss. The lefty allowed three runs, two earned, over two innings. He struck out two, walked one and gave up three hits.

Xzavion Curry is scheduled to take the mound on Thursday for Lake County. First pitch between the Captains and Cubs is set for 6:35 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.