Pineda dazzles in 4-3 Nuts matinee win

LANSING, Mich. – Under the afternoon sun, Pedro Pineda shined with a 3-for-3 performance that included two doubles, a triple and two walks to boost the Lansing Lugnuts (21-28, 50-63) to a 4-3 win over the Peoria Chiefs (23-26, 55-60) in a Wednesday matinee at JacksonⓇ Field™.

The Lugnuts are winners of their last 10 of 11 home games.

The 22-year-old Pineda set the tone immediately against Peoria starter Cade Crossland, smashing a double off the left-center field wall to lead off the home first inning, though he was left stranded at third.

Two innings later, after teammate Jared Davis sent his first High-A pitch into right-center field for a leadoff double, Pineda plated his teammate with an RBI double to center for a 1-0 lead.

Peoria rallied for a 2-1 lead in the third inning on a run-scoring balk by Lansing starter Jackson Nove and an RBI single from Sammy Hernandez.

In the bottom of the sixth, Rodney Green Jr. led off with a single into right field, took second base on a Gerardo Salas wild pitch, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Davis, and scored on a Bryan Arendt RBI double to tie the game at 2-2.

Peoria changed pitchers to Zeke Wood, who retired Gunner Gouldsmith on a fly out that moved Arendt to third. Wood then tossed the second wild pitch of the inning, bringing Arendt home for a 3-2 lead.

A Hernandez solo home run off reliever Griffin Kirn retied the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning.

That set the stage for Pineda, who opened the bottom of the eighth with a fly to to shallow right. Ian Petrutz dove for the catch and missed, allowing Pineda to sprint into third with a leadoff triple. Two batters later, Daniel Bucciero plated his teammate with an RBI single to left-center, giving Lansing a 4-3 lead.

“Just trying to stay on the heater and just trying to put the ball in play,” Pineda said about what led to all of his contact. “Not trying to do too much. That was all my approach, the whole game.”

In the ninth, Kirn retired three straight with a strikeout and two ground outs.

In the winning cause, Nove pitched five innings, allowing three hits, two runs and three walks with three strikeouts before Mitch Myers fired two innings, allowing one walk with four strikeouts. Kirn allowed just the home run in his two innings while striking out two.

In addition to his three hits, Pineda finished with one RBI, one run scored and two walks.

“He was aggressive to his pitch,” Godard said. “And then that triple, when you're doing the small things the right way, you get rewarded for it.”

In the month of August, Pineda is hitting .349 with an OPS of 1.129 and six doubles, two triples and two home runs over 43 at-bats in 14 games.

“I feel really good in the box,” Pineda said. “I feel like I'm seeing the ball really good.”

Breyson Guedez followed up his 2-for-5, two-home run performance on Tuesday with a 3-for-4 day on Wednesday, bringing him to 5-for-9 in the series.

Jake Reinisch finished 2-for-5 to extend his on-base streak to 30 games, and the debuting Davis went 2-for-2 with a single, double, walk, run scored and sacrifice.

Lansing’s Samuel Dutton is set to face Peoria right-hander Ty Van Dyke in game three of the series on Wednesday night. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. for a Detroit Lions-themed Knee Caps Night on a Coors Light Thirsty Thursday, with the first 1,000 fans receiving a Lugnuts Football Jersey and $3 domestics (cans/drafts), $5 seltzers and $3 16oz soft drink specials available at concessions. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

# # #