Early Lead Evaporates in 7-5 Loss

By Mike Couzens

May 19, 2013

Eastlake, OH - On a pristine Sunday afternoon in Classic Park, Fort Wayne took an early lead against the Lake County Captains, only to see it disappear as they lost their second straight contest. The Captains pounded TinCaps starter Walker Weickel for seven runs in the first four innings, and never looked back in a 7-5 win.

For the first time in the series the TinCaps scored the first run of the game, as Maxx Tissenbaum, who entered the game with a .065 batting average in his last eight games, singled home Mallex Smith. Stephen Carmon doubled home Alberth Martinez in the second inning, giving Fort Wayne (24-17) a 2-0 lead.

Lake County (15-25) responded by taking the lead against Weickel (0-2) with a three-run home run by Anthony Santander in the home half of the second inning. It was Santander's first home run of the season, and just the 13^th of the season for the Captains, who game into the game with the second-fewest home runs in the 16-team Midwest League. Weickel allowed a two-run home run to Richard Stock in the third inning, which stretched the Lake County lead to 5-2.

The Captains scored twice more in the fourth inning on a two-run single off the bat of shortstop Dorssys Paulino. Weickel followed that at-bat by walking Logan Vick, and was removed from the game. The 3 1/3 innings of work by Weickel tied his season-low, and the seven runs he allowed were a career-worst. The Captains also used the stolen base to their advantage, stealing seven bases in as many tries, all with Weickel on the mound.

Both teams were then scoreless until the ninth, when Fort Wayne mounted a small rally. The TinCaps scored three times-a wild pitch, an error and an RBI single by Tissenbaum getting the runs home-but left the tying run at the plate as Dane Phillips struck out to end the game, stranding Tissenbaum at first.

Captains reliever Robbie Aviles (1-0) picked up the win, tossing four innings of scoreless baseball. The back-to-back losses were the first since Fort Wayne dropped two straight to the Peoria Chiefs on May 5^th and 6^th.

The TinCaps will try for a split of the four-game set Monday night, when first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 at Classic Park. The scheduled starters are Joe Ross for Fort Wayne and Jake Sisco for the Captains. The game can be heard on The Fan 1380 and TheFanFortWayne.com.