‘Caps ‘Cruz’ to Victory
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Thanks to some timely offense and defense from shortstop Trei Cruz, the West Michigan Whitecaps rallied for the second straight night for a 10-8 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night at Perfect Game Field. Cruz, who delivered the lead with a two-run double
CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Thanks to some timely offense and defense from shortstop Trei Cruz, the West Michigan Whitecaps rallied for the second straight night for a 10-8 victory over the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night at Perfect Game Field.
Cruz, who delivered the lead with a two-run double in the eighth inning with his second two-bagger of the night, teamed up with second baseman Jose King for a great defensive play to prevent a run to end the fifth inning. The win becomes the second consecutive night the 'Caps have won a contest when trailing after seven innings and just the fourth win of its kind this year.
WATCH: CRUZ AND KING’S INCREDIBLE TEAMWORK
The game was a back-and-forth contest, as West Michigan built a 6-2 lead through four innings on run-scoring singles by Austin Murr, Josh Crouch, and Eliezer Alfonzo. After a fifth inning Ben Malgeri RBI-double increased West Michigan's lead to 7-4, Kernels shortstop Wander Javier blasted a run-scoring double, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand delivered a go-ahead, three-run homer to help Cedar Rapids take an 8-7 lead. The score remained the same until the eighth when Cruz, who had brought home a run with a double in the fourth and made his incredible defensive play in the fifth, launched a two-run double to help West Michigan retake the lead at 9-8. Crouch helped deliver an insurance run in the ninth to extend the lead to 10-8 and help West Michigan win its first game of the 2022 Midwest League second half.
'Caps reliever Gio Arriera (6-0) tossed 1.1 innings of scoreless relief in collecting his sixth win of the season, while Kernels pitcher Matthew Swain (0-1) gave up two runs in the eighth in suffering his first loss. Andrew Magno pitched a scoreless ninth to try the team lead with his fifth save of the season. Cruz, Daniel Cabrera, Jake Holton, and Malgeri each had multiple hits in the victory.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this six-game series against the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Saturday at 7:35 pm. Detroit Tigers Top-10 Prospect Dylan Smith takes the mound to start for the Whitecaps against Sean Mooney for the Kernels. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:20 pm. Get your tickets for all 2022 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.