Nuts tally two in 9th to take opener at Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Led by game-tying and go-ahead RBIs from Justin Riemer, the Lansing Lugnuts (2-1) rallied from a late 1-0 deficit to beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps (1-3) in their 2026 road opener, 3-1, on Tuesday night at Parkview Field.

TinCaps pitchers struck out 16 Lugnuts, including nine by starter Maikel Miralles in four innings, and an Alex McCoy second-inning RBI single stood up as the game’s only run through the first six innings.

But the Nuts tied the game in the seventh against Vicarte Domingo on a pair of singles from Nate Nankil and Davis Diaz, a Nankil steal of third, and a sacrifice fly from Justin Riemer.

The game remained tied at 1-1 until the ninth. After a Nankil strikeout, Diaz reached on a one-out single against sidearmer Clay Edmondson. Pedro Pineda followed with a dribbler back to Edmondson, who threw it into the sliding body of Diaz at second. The ball ricocheted into left field while Diaz dashed to third. That brought up Riemer, who grounded to second baseman Rosman Verdugo. Verdugo opted to throw to the plate, but it arrived too late to stop Diaz from scoring the tie-breaking run. A Bobby Boser RBI double to right provided insurance, delivering Pineda.

That was all that Lansing reliever Jackson Finley needed, closing out Fort Wayne around a one-out Kavares Tears double in the bottom of the ninth to earn his first win of the year.

It was the second straight game that Lansing used two pitchers to limit the opposition to one run. Friday, Zane Taylor (five innings) and Kyle Robinson (four innings) beat the Dayton Dragons, 5-1. On this night, it was Tzu-Chen Sha (five innings) and Finley (four innings) who handled Fort Wayne, combining to allow six hits and two walks while striking out three batters apiece on just 112 total pitches.

Shortstop Boser led the offense, going 2-for-3 with a single, double and two walks out of the leadoff slot.

The victory came in the Lugnuts’ first game since Friday, due to a postponement Saturday and scheduled days off on Sunday and Monday. Five more games will follow in Fort Wayne, with Steven Echavarria starting Wednesday night at 6:35 p.m.

The Nuts next return home from April 14-19 against the West Michigan Whitecaps. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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