TinCaps falter late in 12-6 loss
Captains OF Bo Greenwell put on a show for the second consecutive game, going 3-for-4, falling a double shy of the cycle and driving in five runs. He also threw a runner out at the plate from left field.
Griffin Benedict was the star offensively for Fort Wayne, going 3-for-3 with a grand slam, a walk and two runs scored.
The TinCaps were down in the 1st after the Captains plated two runs with the help of two Fort Wayne errors. A bases-loaded walk followed by the second error scored the runs.
Fort Wayne came back in the top of the 2nd. Nate Freiman reached on a leadoff infield single, Captains RHP Joe Gardner issued a pair of walks and Benedict hammered a 1-1 pitch over the wall in right-center to put the TinCaps ahead, 4-2. It was the second straight game in which a Fort Wayne hitter blasted a grand slam.
It was all Lake County from there, as the Captains scored the next ten runs. Chris Kersten hit a solo home run in the 4th, then Chun Chen tied it in the 5th with an RBI single.
In the 6th, Greenwell hit a two-out, three-run homer to break the deadlock and put Lake County ahead, 7-4. Casey Frawley singled home a pair in the 7th to make it 9-4. Greenwell came up again in the 8th and smoked a two-run triple to center, giving Lake County an 11-4 lead.
Down 12-4 in the 9th, Fort Wayne scored as Wande Olabisi tripled into the right-field corner to score Benedict. Jeudy Valdez reached on an error and Olabisi scored to cut it to a 12-6 margin.
Lake County RHP Nick Sarianides (2-0) was the winning pitcher. LHP Pedro Hernandez (0-1) took the loss.
Fort Wayne (6-6) dipped to .500, losing two of three in the series while Lake County improved to 11-1.
The TinCaps come back to Parkview Field to open a three-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts (Class-A Toronto Blue Jays) Tuesday at 7:05 p.m. Fort Wayne LHP Mike Watt (0-0) takes to the mound against Lansing RHP Dave Sever (0-1).