Davenport’s Remarkable Start Guides Captains to Series-Opening Win

EASTLAKE, Ohio – In the first of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (12-13, 43-47) defeated the Beloit Sky Carp (13-12, 40-50) by a final score of 2-1 on Tuesday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

This marks Lake County’s second consecutive victory, and fourth in their last five games.

On his 23^rd birthday, Aaron Davenport (3-7) turned in arguably his best start of the season. The right-hander tied his career high of 7 innings pitched, allowing just 3 hits and one earned run, while throwing 5 strikeouts in 82 pitches (57 strikes). This was Davenport’s third win in his last four appearances, and just his second outing this season in which he did not surrender any walks.

The 23-year-old permitted just 2 baserunners in his first 5 innings of work, which were courtesy of a pair of Beloit singles in the 3^rd and 4^th innings, respectively. Then, the Sky Carp’s Osiris Johnson began the 6^th inning with a 468-foot solo home run, his 5^th home run of the season, cutting Lake County’s lead to 2-1.

Ultimately, Davenport retired 11 of the final 12 Beloit hitters he faced, with Johnson’s solo home run being the only blemish in this span.

Eventually, Lenny Torres Jr. pitched a perfect 8^th inning, throwing one strikeout. Magnus Ellerts then entered the game to begin the 9^th inning. After striking out the first hitter he faced, the Sky Carp’s Yiddi Cappe hit a single, putting the go-ahead run at the plate. However, Ellerts retired the final two Beloit hitters in order, earning his 3^rd High-A save of the season.

Offensively, the Captains strung together three consecutive singles in the bottom of the 1^st inning. Milan Tolentino, Cleveland’s No. 19 prospect according to MLB.com, and reigning Midwest League Player of the Week Dayan Frias, Cleveland’s No. 28 prospect according to MLB.com, both hit singles to put runners on 1^st and 3^rd base. These hits extended Tolentino’s and Frias’s hitting streaks to 5 and 8 games, respectively.

Then, Joe Lampe, Cleveland’s No. 26 prospect according to MLB.com, hit an RBI single to give Lake County a 1-0 lead.

Three innings later, on a two-out, two-strike pitch, Joe Donovan hit a solo home run, his 4^th home run of the season, to put the Captains ahead 2-0. In the following frame, Jake Fox, Cleveland’s No. 8 prospect according to MLB.com, hit an infield single to extend his hitting streak to 5 games.

In all, the Captains recorded 11 hits as a team, leaving 8 runners on base.

First pitch for Game 2 of this week’s scheduled six-game series between the Captains and Sky Carp is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM. It will be a “Spectacular Senior Day” and “Camp Day” at the ballpark. Coverage of the game can be found on both the Bally Live app and MiLB.tv, as well as through @LCCaptains on both Twitter and Instagram.