‘Caps Take Five of Six in Fort Wayne, 8-2
FORT WAYNE, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps finished their hot-hitting week at Parkview Field in style, scoring six runs over the first four innings in an 8-2 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps before 4,388 fans on Sunday afternoon to conclude their six-game series. The victory gives West Michigan
FORT WAYNE, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps finished their hot-hitting week at Parkview Field in style, scoring six runs over the first four innings in an 8-2 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps before 4,388 fans on Sunday afternoon to conclude their six-game series.
The victory gives West Michigan wins in five of the six games of the series, sending them back home to LMCU Ballpark in a first-place tie with the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League Eastern Division. On Sunday, the Whitecaps were just as good on the mound as they were at the plate, as starting pitcher Connor Fenlong dominated with 5.1 innings of scoreless, one-hit baseball while striking out six to seal the victory in the series finale.
Roberto Campos opened the scoring for the second straight day with an RBI single in the first before Woody Hadeen followed with a two-run double in the second inning to help West Michigan take a 3-0 lead. In the third, Beau Ankeney collected a run-scoring single to help the Whitecaps extend their advantage to 4-0. Edian Espinal followed with a two-run single to increase the lead to 6-0. Meanwhile, Fenlong carved up the TinCaps with a biting slider that helped rack up six strikeouts in his 5.1 frames. In the ninth, the Whitecaps Beau Ankeney launched his third home run of the series with a two-run shot to put the finishing touches on a dominant week in Fort Wayne, and the first 5-1 weekly record for West Michigan in a six-game series this season.
The Whitecaps improve to a season-best six games over .500 at 24-18 in the second half and 48-58 overall, while the TinCaps fall to 19-21 in the second half and 46-60 overall. Fenlong (2-1) gets his second win of the season for a dominant performance in the series finale, while the TinCaps Abraham Parra (5-6) gave up six runs in three innings in taking his sixth loss of the season. Ankeney reached base four times in the contest as part of a 2-for-3 performance while driving in three runs to lead the way for the Whitecaps offense, who plated a total of 59 runs in the six games of the series.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps return home for a six-game series at LMCU Ballpark against the Lansing Lugnuts beginning on Tuesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20 pm on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, and online at WhitecapsBaseball.com.