Taylor, sixth-inning offense propel Nuts to first win

LANSING, Mich. - After dropping the first game of the season-opening series, the Lansing Lugnuts (1-1) bounced back and took care of business on Friday night at JacksonⓇ Field™ thanks to an offensive burst in the sixth inning, downing the Dayton Dragons (1-1), 5-1.

“It was a great win,” manager Javier Godard said. “Outstanding job by the pitching. …  And (the) hitters, they put up a good job in the sixth inning. … Put up some good at-bats, (a) walk and got some guys in. So that was awesome to watch.”

Lansing used just two pitchers. In only his second pro baseball game and his debut as a Lugnut, Zane Taylor pitched five scoreless innings, giving up two hits and three walks and striking out three batters on the way to his first win in the pros.

Taylor kept it simple when explaining how he found success in his opening game as a Lugnut.

“Just throwing strikes,” Taylor said. “I mean, I know I did walk three guys, but they never got past second base. So I think throwing strikes, filling the zone up, and just allowing the defense to work, and that's exactly what they did.”

Kyle Robinson came in as relief and tossed the remaining four innings, giving up three hits, one earned run and earning the save.

It was a quiet game to start as neither team found much early offensive momentum. In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lugnuts broke the ice with an RBI double down the left-field line from Pedro Pineda.

Jared Sprague-Lott opened the bottom of the sixth inning by launching a solo home run to left-center to put Lansing up 2-0.

“(I) just went up there looking to be aggressive early in the count, got a pitch I liked and tried to put a good swing on it,” Sprague-Lott said.

Rodney Green Jr. kept the Lugnuts’ momentum going, dodging a tag at home plate and scoring on a C.J. Pittaro dribbler in front of home plate. A Dylan Fien sacrifice fly and a Nate Nankil bases-loaded walk added to the Lansing lead, the Lugnuts up 5-0 lead at the end of the sixth inning.

Dayton found its first and only run of the game with an RBI single from Kien Vu in the top of the eighth.

Sprague-Lott led the offense with a 3-for-4 night. Green finished 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles; the Nuts' center fielder has knocked three doubles and two homers in the first two games.

The Lugnuts close out the series on a Saturday Darty featuring Thirsty Thursday drink specials. Pitcher Tzu-Chen Sha tosses the first pitch at 1:05 p.m. For tickets or more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing