Pinero walk-off drops Lugnuts in 10th

Edward Olivares singled and tripled, and J.B. Woodman reached base three times, but the Lugnuts opened the second half with a loss. (Tyler Marcotte)

By Jesse Goldberg-Strassler

June 22, 2017

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. - Danny Pinero lined a one-out RBI single to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning, carrying the West Michigan Whitecaps (1-0, 46-22) past the Lansing Lugnuts (0-1, 37-30), 5-4, on Thursday night at Fifth Third Ballpark.The Lugnuts' record fell to 1-5 against the Whitecaps in

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. - Danny Pinero lined a one-out RBI single to left field in the bottom of the 10th inning, carrying the West Michigan Whitecaps (1-0, 46-22) past the Lansing Lugnuts (0-1, 37-30), 5-4, on Thursday night at Fifth Third Ballpark.

The Lugnuts' record fell to 1-5 against the Whitecaps in the season series, including three consecutive defeats spanning the final two games of the first half and the first game of the second half.

Josh Lester opened the bottom of the 10th with a single to right field off Connor Eller (Loss, 1-1), moving to second on an Austin Athmann sacrifice. Following an intentional walk of Cole Bauml, Pinero lasered a 3-2 pitch from Eller into left to bring in Lester with the game-winning run.

West Michigan's John Schreiber(Win, 2-1) pitched 1 2/3 perfect innings of relief, striking out two.

Mitch Nay slugged a 432-foot home run and Yennsy Diaz struck out five in three perfect innings as the Nuts roared out to a strong start.

But a 37-minute rain delay arrived in the top of the fourth, stemming the momentum. When the game resumed, the Whitecaps tallied runs against Diaz in the fourth and fifth innings for a 2-1 lead.

The Lugs responded with a three-run rally in the seventh inning. Edward Olivares tied the score with an RBI triple, coming home on a Ridge Smith sacrifice fly to give the Lugnuts a 3-2 lead. A two-out Anthony Pereira throwing error brought in Yeltsin Gudino for a 4-2 edge before the rally closed.

Pereira redeemed himself in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game with a two-out, two-run double off reliever Dan Lietz .

Olivares was the only Lugnut to collect multiple hits, going 2-for-5 with a steal, a run scored and an RBI. J.B. Woodman added two walks and a single.

The second game of the four-game series, set for Friday at 7:00 p.m., will feature Lugnuts right-hander Denis Diaz (0-3, 6.29) against Whitecaps right-hander Alfred Gutierrez (4-4, 3.72).

The next Lugnuts' home game is a Dog Days of Summer at 7:05 p.m. Monday, June 26th, beginning a four-game homestand against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Tickets may be purchased at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com.
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