Seventeen-hit night powers Nuts to 2000th all-time victory

LANSING, Mich. – A quick four runs by the offense in the first inning and a fifth consecutive quality start powered the Lansing Lugnuts (16-20) to their 2000th all-time victory, a 12-3 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits (16-17) in front of a raucous Thirsty Thursday crowd at JacksonⓇ Field™.

The Lugnuts have now won five straight games stretching back to May 9, all of which have seen Lansing starting pitchers record quality starts.

The offense is firing on all cylinders, too. In the current series, the Lugnuts have outscored Quad Cities 34-10. On Thursday, the offense recorded 17 hits compared to the River Bandits’ nine.

“We're staying within ourselves,” Ali Camarillo said. “We're taking pitches that we can't do damage with, and we're doing damage to the pitches that we can.”

Lansing wasted no time taking control of the game, striking first with a Devin Taylor RBI fielder’s choice followed by RBI singles from Myles Naylor and C.J. Pittaro. A run-scoring Austin Charles throwing error gave Lansing a 4-0 lead – and those four runs, as it turned out, were all the Nuts needed to grab a third straight win in the series.

“We do our hitters' meeting every day, and we want to prepare and be as prepared as we can for the starting pitcher for them, and we came up with a good plan as a group, and we executed,” manager Javier Godard said.

After the blitz in the first inning, the Nuts kept up the pressure in the second by adding two more runs, courtesy of a Camarillo sacrifice fly and a Taylor RBI double.

Camarillo led the offense, going 4-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and three runs scored. Taylor went 2-for-4 with one run scored, three RBIs and two doubles; it was his third straight two-hit game.

“I was seeing the ball well,” Camarillo said. “I had my approach, stuck to it, got pitches I could handle, and did what I did.”

Quad Cities pounced on Lansing starter Zane Taylor in the third with an RBI triple by Tyriq Kemp and an RBI groundout from Nolan Sailors. A two-out solo home run from Blake Mitchell followed to cut Lansing’s lead to 6-3.

“I think right pitches, wrong location, and that happens a lot being a pitcher,” Taylor said.

“So (I) threw a change-up, left it a little too much in the zone, and (they) hit it out of the field. And then other than that, just fastballs getting left just middle as well and base hits.”

Taylor may have bent, but he didn’t break, tossing three scoreless innings after the third. He finished with seven strikeouts in six innings, conceding six hits, one walk and three runs en route to his third win of the season.

“We had a lot of runs on the board. … Being able to have those runs and know I had insurance was definitely a big thing, and then just going back out there and competing,” Taylor said.

In relief, Jack Mahoney, Gerlin Rosario and Jose Dicochea each pitched an inning, giving up a combined three hits and zero runs.

The Nuts and River Bandits face off once again on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. between 6’6” Lansing right-hander Kyle Robinson and 6’6” Quad Cities right-hander Josh Hansell. The Zooperstars will provide entertainment, and the first LAFCU Fireworks Spectacular of the year will conclude the night. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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