Winkler inside-the-park HR tops Caps
LANSING, Mich. – Jack Winkler raced around the bases on a go-ahead inside-the-park sixth-inning homer, and the Lansing Lugnuts (6-9, 37-43) headed into the Major League All-Star Break with a 5-4 victory over the Lake County Captains (5-10, 36-44), 5-4, on Sunday afternoon at Jackson Field. It was the Lugnuts’
LANSING, Mich. – Jack Winkler raced around the bases on a go-ahead inside-the-park sixth-inning homer, and the Lansing Lugnuts (6-9, 37-43) headed into the Major League All-Star Break with a 5-4 victory over the Lake County Captains (5-10, 36-44), 5-4, on Sunday afternoon at Jackson Field.
It was the Lugnuts’ second inside-the-park home run of the series, following Junior Pérez’s three-run inside-the-park sprint in the opener on the 4th of July. On that occasion, Pérez drilled a pitch off the right-center field wall from Parker Messick and raced around the bases after the ball bounced away from Lake County’s outfielders.
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) July 9, 2023
Winkler’s home run also came off of Messick, but came in a different circumstance entirely. With two outs and the bases empty in a 4-4 game, Winkler lined a deep fly into the right field corner. Jorge Burgos chased it to the wall, leaping up to get his glove on it – but the ball bounced away as Burgos crashed into the wall and fell to the ground hurt, the ball next to him. Winkler circled the bases as Lake County’s defenders rushed to Burgos’s side. After the play ended, he was carted back to the Captains dugout.
The Lugnuts’ bullpen took it from there: Stevie Emanuels blanked the Captains in the seventh and eighth innings and Tyler Baum closed out the ninth for his eleventh save.
Lugnuts starter Mitch Myers gave up three runs on seven hits in four innings in a no-decision and Christian Fernandez pitched the fifth and sixth, bridging to Emanuels.
Winkler and Colby Thomas each enjoyed two-hit games in the winning effort, and Caeden Trenkle added a two-run single.
The Lugnuts clinched a six-game series split, setting up the four-day break for the All-Star Break. The Nuts return to action with a three-game series Friday at West Michigan before returning to host the Great Lakes Loons from July 18-23. Tickets are available via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500 during office hours.
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