Isaacs drives Captains to 13-inning win

(Fort Wayne, IN) - The Lake County Captains (20-36) needed 13 innings to beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps (19-39) on Tuesday night, but it was worth the wait in the end. The game had been tied at 1-1 since the sixth inning when Todd Isaacs roped a double into the right field corner to score Junior Soto with the go-ahead run in the top of the 13th. Lake County came away with a 2-1 win in the opener of a three-game series at Parkview Field. Tuesday's victory was the 999^th win in Captains history, putting them one win away from their milestone 1000^th win.
The Captains hit reliever Diomar Lopez hard in the 13^th. Jose Medina led off the frame with a shot to the gap in right-centerfield, but he was thrown out at second trying to stretch his single into a double. Soto followed Medina with a line drive to left-centerfield gap and he made it easily into second base with his fifth double in six games. Isaacs came up next and quickly fell behind 0-2, but then slammed a line drive over the head of right fielder Jack Suwinski. Soto scored easily to put the Captains ahead. 

Lake County nearly added an insurance tally, but Fort Wayne second baseman Reinaldo Ilaraza made a sensational play to rob Miguel Eladio. Eladio hit a scorching ground ball to second and Ilaraza made a sliding stop and threw Eladio out. Isaacs moved to third on the ground out, but Lopez got the next hitter to ground out to end the inning.
Ryder Ryan took care of the bottom of the 13^th. The right-hander came in from the bullpen and retired the TinCaps in order. Ryan struck out the first two men he faced and got Eugy Rosario to pop out to Jorma Rodriguez at second base to end the game. Ryan captured his third save of the year in the process.
The Captains had to side-step danger on several occasions just to get to the 13^th. In the ninth, Suwinski tripled into the left field corner with two outs, but Ryan Colegate struck out Jorge Ona to leave the winning run 90 feet away. The very next inning, Buddy Reed singled and Conner Capel threw him out trying to push his single into a double.
The TinCaps had another chance in the 12^th, but Ben Krauth made a big pitch to get out of dodge. Fernando Tatis, Jr. singled and Suwinski bunted the winning run up to second base. With one out, the Captains opted to intentionally walk Ona to face Hudson Potts. Krauth got Potts to ground into a 6-4-3 double play to send the game to the 13^th. The clutch double play was the fifth twin-killing the Captains turned on Tuesday.
Fort Wayne struck first in the third inning. Brad Zunica led off with a single and Marcus Greene, Jr. followed with a single of his own. After Tatis grounded into a double play, Zunica moved to third with two outs. Zunica then scored on a wild pitch to give the TinCaps a 1-0 lead.
Lake County played small ball to tie the game in the sixth. Isaacs walked to start the frame and then stole second base. Eladio dropped down a bunt to move the runner up to third, but his bunt rolled down the first base line and managed to hug the chalk and stay fair for a base hit. With runners on the corners and nobody out, Rodriguez bunted toward first base and Isaacs came home to score the tying run on the safety squeeze. The game remained tied until Isaacs' 13^th-inning double.
Tanner Tully pitched a gem, but did not factor in the decision. The left-hander pitched a career-high seven innings and gave up one run on five hits. Tully induced three double plays and faced the minimum in five innings. He struck out six batters and did not issue a walk.
Krauth (4-2) earned the win in relief. The lefty pitched two shutout innings in the 11^th and 12^th and gave up just one hit. Krauth did not strike out a batter and issued one intentional walk before getting the biggest double play of the game to put an end to the 12^th.
Lopez (0-1) took the loss for Fort Wayne after giving up the winning run in the 13^th. The right-hander pitched three innings and allowed one run on three hits. Lopez struck out four and did not walk a batter.
The Captains took the first meeting of the season against Fort Wayne and will take on the TinCaps again on Wednesday night. First pitch at Parkview Field is scheduled for 7:05 PM.
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). 12-, 20-, and 35-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.