Whitecaps blast Lugnuts, 13-1

LANSING, Mich. – Luke Gold smashed a grand slam to cap an eight-run ninth inning, and the West Michigan Whitecaps (43-20) completed a dominant six-day stretch with a 13-1 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts (34-29) in front of a Father’s Day crowd of 7,379 on Sunday afternoon at Jackson® Field™.

The Whitecaps won five of six games in the series, outscoring the Lugnuts 52-16.

The game was tied 1-1 until the fifth inning, when Johnny Peck grounded an RBI single to center off Lansing starter Corey Avant. Avant worked 4 2/3 innings in all, allowing eight hits and three walks, but struck out three and only allowed the two runs.

The Nuts’ bullpen did not fare as well. Wander Guante gave up two runs in the sixth, Tom Reisinger allowed an unearned run in the seventh, and Hunter Breault gave up five hits and two walks in the eight-run ninth, through Gold’s grand slam was unearned due to a fielding error by center fielder Rodney Green, Jr.

West Michigan finished with 18 hits, including three apiece from Gold, Peck and Ben Malgeri, plus 10 walks.

Conversely, the Lugnuts finished with only seven hits – including a single and a double from Green – and only one walk against four Whitecaps pitchers.

After a day off on Monday, the Nuts open a six-game series at Quad Cities from June 17-22, returning home to host the Dayton Dragons from June 24-29. Tickets are available for purchase at the stadium box office, (517) 485-4500 or online at milb.com/lansing.

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