Holmes powers Captains to 10-2 win

(Fort Wayne, IN) - Quentin Holmes drove in five runs with a home run and a triple on Thursday night to propel the Lake County Captains (35-24) to victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (28-30). Holmes' power surge lifted Lake County to a 10-2 win at Parkview Field in the final game of a three-game series, snapping the Captains' three-game losing streak.

The Captains scored all of their runs between the fourth and fifth innings with a pair of five-run rallies. In the top of the fourth, Will Benson drew a leadoff walk against TinCaps starter Sam Keating and Ruben Cardenas followed with a single that moved Benson to third. Cardenas was caught stealing for the first out and Josh Rolette grounded out to second with the infield in, keeping Benson 90 feet from home. With two gone, however, Mitch Reeves hit a flare off the end of his bat to centerfield that fell just out of the reach of the sliding Jawuan Harris. Benson scored the game's first run and Reeves hustled to second with a double as the ball bounced past Harris. The double gave the Captains a 1-0 lead.
Reeves came home with the game's second run shortly thereafter. TinCaps second baseman Lee Solomon misplayed a grounder by Jesse Berardi and Reeves scored as the ball rolled into right-centerfield. Holmes then tattooed Keating's first pitch and sent it over the left-centerfield wall for a three-run homer to give the Captains a 5-0 lead.
Lake County added five more runs in the fifth and the whole rally started with two outs. Cardenas notched his second of three singles and Rolette followed with a walk. Reeves then added another RBI with his third hit, a single that fell into shallow left-center and scored Cardenas. After Berardi and Hosea Nelson each knocked in runs with singles to right field, Holmes polished off the inning with his fourth and fifth RBI's of the night. The Captains' centerfielder pulled a line drive down the left field line. Berardi and Nelson both scored and Holmes cruised to third with a triple to extend Lake County's lead to 10-0.
The TinCaps scored their only two runs in the fifth. After Captains lefty starter Zach Draper had held Fort Wayne scoreless on just one hit over the first four frames, the TinCaps pieced together a modest rally with a leadoff single by Solomon and later a two-out single by Aldemar Burgos. Justin Lopez singled on a soft fly ball to left that plated Solomon and that prompted Captains Manager Luke Carlin to call on lefty reliever Skylar Arias out of the bullpen. A wild pitch by Arias scored Burgos to cut the Captains' lead to 10-2. The run that scored on the wild pitch was charged to Draper, who finished with a final line of 4.2 innings pitched, two runs, four hits, four walks and three strikeouts in a no-decision.
Arias (2-0) picked up the win in relief. He did not surrender a run or a hit over 1.1 innings. The southpaw walked one and struck out one.
Keating (2-3) took the loss after allowing 10 runs, six earned, over 4.2 innings. The Fort Wayne starter allowed 10 hits, walked three and did not record a strikeout.
The Captains ended a three-game losing streak and will head back to Classic Park to begin a seven-game homestand on Friday. Lake County welcomes the Lansing Lugnuts to town for a four-game series, followed by a three-game set against the Great Lakes Loons. First pitch on Friday night is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.