TinCaps take series with 4-1 Saturday night victory

LANSING, Mich. – Kerrington Cross went 4-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs and the Lansing Lugnuts (27-37, 56-72) stranded 13 baserunners en route a 4-1 loss to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (28-35, 55-74) on Fan Appreciation Night in front of a Saturday-evening crowd of 5,486 at JacksonⓇ Field™.

The victory clinches the series for Fort Wayne with one game remaining on Sunday, the final contest of the season for both squads.

The victory clinches the series for Fort Wayne with one game remaining on Sunday, the final contest of the season for both squads. After the game, the team took a moment to recognize its fans for Fan Appreciation Night.

“I wanna say thank you,” starting pitcher Jorge Marcheco said. “Thank you for support(ing) me and support(ing) the whole team every night, every day.”

“(As) someone who's been here all year, really appreciative of them showing out every week,” C.J. Pittaro said. “We've had some really great crowds this year, and I think we have one of the best home records in the league this year, which is something to be proud of, and like I said, a big testament of them. It's a lot of fun playing in front of ‘em.”

“They're awesome,” manager Javier Godard said. “I always said that this fan base is, it's great. They come out every day and support us, and I just wanna say thank you for showing up and giving us support all year round.”

Despite a total of seven hits and six walks, the Lugnuts stranded 13 runners on base, at least one in every inning.

“We swung a little bit too big when we had a situation to get a guy in, and I mean we did have options, but we just couldn't get anyone across by probably pitch selection I wanna say,” Godard said. “We kind of swung at their pitches. … That happens when you can't execute your plan.”

“I think that's, you know, it's just baseball,” Pittaro said. “Some nights, it doesn't go your way. And I think the guys took good at-bats, just, like I said, just didn't fall tonight, and that's how it goes sometimes.”

Fort Wayne starter Winyer Chourio, the San Diego Padres’ No. 15 prospect, opened the game with five scoreless innings, striking out six and allowing three hits and four walks. Javier Chacon continued the shutout through the eighth, giving up two hits and two walks while also fanning six.

Will Varmette surrendered an RBI double to Jake Reinisch in the ninth, but back-to-back groundouts from Lansing ended the game.

The TinCaps scored the opening run in the first as third baseman Daniel Bucciero missed the grab on a ground ball hit by Conner Westenburg with two outs, allowing Luke Cantwell to come home from second for a 1-0 advantage. In the third, Cross plated Ryan Gerety with an RBI double that was just out of reach of right fielder C.J. Pittaro to make it 2-0.

In the fifth, Robbie Lavey hit a double of his own, but left the game due to injury. Carlos Rodriguez took his teammate’s place, and Cross drove him home with his second RBI, a single to center field for a third Fort Wayne run.

“You gotta pitch [Cross] backwards and let him get himself in trouble,” Godard said. “We can't pitch him anything close to the zone, to be honest with you. He's a pretty good hitter.”

The TinCaps’ final run was scored in the sixth; Yoiber Ocopio led off the top of the frame with a single, advanced to second on a Dylan Grego groundout and moved to third on a wild pitch from reliever Luis Carrasco before a throwing error by shortstop Tanner Marsh with two outs allowed Kasen Wells to make it to first safely and Ocopio to score.

Alex Fernandes led off the bottom of the ninth with a triple to left-center field, and Reinisch drove him home with an RBI double that bounced off the wall in center. But consecutive groundouts by Bucciero and Rodney Green Jr. left Reinisch at second to end the game.

In the loss, Lansing starter Jorge Marcheco allowed five hits, two walks and three runs (two earned) with four strikeouts in 4 ⅔ innings.

Marcheco said his season was both long and hard with both good and bad moments, emphasizing the difficulty he had when switching to the starting rotation.

“I need a rest,” Marcheco said. “I need a rest in the (next) couple weeks, and then after that, I'm working hard.”

Carrasco pitched 2 ⅓ innings, giving up three hits and one unearned run with one strikeout. Riley Huge finished the game with scoreless eighth and ninth innings, collecting two strikeouts.

Pittaro led the Lugnut offense with a 3-for-3 performance at the plate with one walk, Fernandes hit 2-for-4 with a triple, walk and run scored, and Reinisch extended his minor league-leading on-base streak to 44 games by going 2-for-4 with a double, walk and RBI.

“Just trying to be aggressive, finish the year off strong and do whatever I can to help the team win,” Pittaro said.

Lansing will start Tucker Novotny in Sunday’s season finale, opposing Fort Wayne’s Carson Montgomery. Gates open at 12 p.m. for a Capital City Market Kids Day, and first pitch is scheduled for 1:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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