Esparza, Lukes lift Captains in 2-1 win

(Eastlake, OH) - Matt Esparza pitched lights-out and Nathan Lukes came up big with the bat, as the Lake County Captains defeated the Burlington Bees on Tuesday night at Classic Park. Esparza allowed just one run over five innings, and Lukes delivered the game-winning hit with a go-ahead triple in the fifth inning to lead the Captains to a 2-1 win.

Esparza (3-1) was close to untouchable over the first three innings, but had to work out of trouble in the fourth. The Bees struck for three straight hits to start the fourth inning, including an RBI single by Hutton Moyer to give Burlington 1-0 lead. With runners on second and third and nobody out, however, Esparza kept the Bees at bay. The right-hander struck out the next two batters and got Juan Moreno to bounce out to the mound to end the inning and keep the damage to a minimum.

After Esparza got out of the jam, the Captains' offense answered to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Krieger tripled to lead off the inning and Francisco Mejia knocked him in with an sacrifice fly to knot the score at 1-1.

Lake County took the lead in the fifth inning thanks to Sam Haggerty and Lukes. Haggerty delivered his fifth double in the last three games and was still on second with two outs when Lukes stepped to the plate. Lukes drilled a pitch from Bees starter Grayson Long down the right field line and it banged off the top of the wall, next to the foul pole. Lukes raced to third with a triple and Haggerty trotted home to give the Captains a 2-1 lead.

The Captains' bullpen took over from there. Cortland Cox pitched a pair of scoreless innings in relief and Kieran Lovegrove did not allow a run in the eighth. In the ninth, Yoiber Marquina came in and closed out the game for his second save of the year. Marquina allowed a one-out walk, but struck out Alex Abbott and got Jordan Serena to line out to shortstop to end the ballgame.

Long (1-1) pitched well for Burlington, but took a tough-luck loss. The right-hander only gave up two runs over five innings. He gave up four hits, walked one and struck out four, but suffered his first loss of the season.

Lake County faces Burlington again on Wednesday night at Classic Park. RHP Shao-Ching Chiang will pitch for the Captains against LHP Ronnie Glenn. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m.

Individual game tickets are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Full season tickets plans, 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2016 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.