Sprague-Lott, Camarillo lead Lugnuts to 6-2 victory

LANSING, Mich. – Jared Sprague-Lott and Ali Camarillo combined to score three runs and the Lansing Lugnuts (7-16, 36-51) ended a two-game mini-series with a 6-2 Sunday matinee win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (10-13, 37-52) at JacksonⓇ Field™.

The Lugnuts improved to 5-3 against the TinCaps in 2026, with one more, seven-game series set for the last week of the season, September 1-6.

The game’s deciding run came in the sixth. After a Myles Naylor lineout, Sprague-Lott drew a walk from Fort Wayne reliever Braian Salazar. With Camarillo at the plate, Salazar was called for his sixth balk of the season, moving Sprague-Lott into scoring position. Two pitches later, Camarillo knocked an RBI single into center field, plating Sprague-Lott for a 3-2 lead.

The Lugnuts added insurance runs in the closing stages to cement the win; a bases-loaded walk of Sprague-Lott from reliever Will Koger scored Carlos Pacheco in the seventh, and groundout RBIs from Bryan Arendt and Jake Reinisch in the eighth made it 6-2.

After being held scoreless for 14 innings, stretching back to Saturday’s 11-inning loss, Lansing finally found home plate in the fourth on Sunday. Sprague-Lott and Camarillo opened the inning with back-to-back line drive singles into left field.

“I think the whole team, top to bottom, were grinding out at-bats the past two days,” Sprague-Lott said. “We didn't have a lot to show for it, but (I) thought everybody was grinding, having good at-bats, and just happened that ours (him and Camarillo’s) fell. So, it was good to see them land and (to) put some runs on the board.”

A Daniel Bucciero groundout advanced the two runners to second and third before a Rodney Green Jr. ground ball bounced straight back to TinCaps starter Abraham Parra, who threw the ball to Costello at first for the out. With Sprague-Lott sprinting home, Costello fired the ball back to catcher Carlos Rodriguez, but the throw went awry. Not only was Sprague-Lott able to score, but Camarillo rounded third and slid home safely to give the Lugnuts a 2-1 lead.

“I'm an aggressive base runner. … I knew there was a chance I could score on it,” Camarillo said.

Sprague-Lott finished the game 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs scored and one RBI. Camarillo went 2-for-4, scoring a run and collecting an RBI.

“Thought (my performance) was solid,” Sprague-Lott said. “I grinded out (a) couple at-bats and put the ball in play. I thought I tried to apply some pressure on the base paths, and it lucked out for us.”

“Just stayed to my approach, made some tiny adjustments, got the pitches I hit, and the difference was I didn't miss ‘em,” Camarillo said of what was going right for him.

In his first start within the A’s organization after getting traded by the Boston Red Sox, Ben Hansen allowed one run and two hits in 3 ⅓ innings; Alex McCoy hit a single in the first and Rodriguez punished a pitch down the middle for a solo home run into right field to make it 1-0 in the second. Hansen finished with five strikeouts and two walks before Griffin Kirn came in for relief.

Kirn and Tzu-Chen Sha combined to pitch a 1 ⅔ scoreless innings before Tucker Novotny took over, allowing a single run, a Kavares Tears homer to right, in one inning of action. Ryan Brown, Jorge Marcheco and Mitch Myers each pitched a scoreless inning to finish off the TinCaps.

“(The bullpen took a) step up,” Godard said. “It looks real different since the All-Star Break. They're commanding the pitches better and working backwards.

“Early in the season, they wanna be too cute and too fine, and they fall behind. But now I can see adjustments, and they just working ahead and filling up the zone early.”

In addition to Sprague-Lott and Camarillo’s contributions, Bucciero went 1-for-3 with one run scored and one walk, Reinisch went 1-for-4 with an RBI and Arendt collected one RBI.

After an off day on Monday, the Lugnuts welcome the Great Lakes Loons into town on Tuesday. Nathan Dettmer is scheduled to start, with gates opening at 6:00 p.m. for Tacos and Tallboys: $5 for two tacos / $5 16oz tallboys. First pitch is set for 7:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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