TinCaps beat Lugnuts in a laugher, 15-5

LANSING, Mich. – Luis Almanzar doubled twice and drove in four runs and Agustin Ruiz homered off a William Simoneit eephus in the ninth inning, leading the Fort Wayne TinCaps (35-39) in a 15-5 romp over the Lansing Lugnuts (34-40) in the second game of a six-game series on Wednesday night at Jackson® Field™.

Lugnuts starter Shohei Tomioka gave up four runs in the first inning and a three-run Almanzar double in the third inning, as Fort Wayne raced out to a quick 7-1 lead and never looked back.

The TinCaps added solo tallies in the fourth and fifth innings off Charlie Cerny and five runs against Richard Guasch in the seventh, leading to Lansing turning to DH Simoneit to pitch the top of the ninth. Working from 45 to 49 miles-per-hour, Simoneit retired Grant Little on a flyout and Zack Mathis on a popoput before Ruiz swatted his 13th home run of the year. Tirso Ornelas then lined out to the wall to end the half-inning.

In the loss, Jordan Díaz hit his eighth home run of the season – his fifth against Fort Wayne – and Jared McDonald followed up a three-double game in the opener by going 2-for-4 with an RBI single and a two-run double.

The game also featured a pair of Lugnuts debuts, with right-hander Garrett Acton tossing a perfect eighth inning with a strikeout and outfielder D.J. Lee pinch-hitting for Lester Madden, Jr., in the eighth and striking out.

Thursday is a Labatt Blue Thirsty Thursday with $2 domestic drafts and $4 craft drafts. Right-hander Jack Cushing (1.50 ERA) starts at 7:05 p.m. against TinCaps right-hander Moises Lugo (3.64 ERA). To purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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