Whitecaps Rally Falls Short in 10, 5-4
EASTLAKE, OH — The West Michigan Whitecaps rallied from a three-run deficit for the second straight day but could not get the big hit at the right time as part of a 5-4 loss to the Lake County Captains on Saturday at Classic Auto Group Park. A walk-off RBI-single by
EASTLAKE, OH — The West Michigan Whitecaps rallied from a three-run deficit for the second straight day but could not get the big hit at the right time as part of a 5-4 loss to the Lake County Captains on Saturday at Classic Auto Group Park.
A walk-off RBI-single by Captains infielder Christian Knapczyk in the tenth was the difference as the Whitecaps went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position during the contest.
Lake County took control of Saturday’s contest early as infielder Jose Devers got the Captains on the board with his third home run of the season in the third inning. In the next frame, Devers added a two-run double that extended the Lake County advantage to 3-0. After a Brett Callahan RBI-single got the Whitecaps on the scoreboard in the sixth, Devers added his fourth hit of the day with a run-scoring single, bringing the Captains lead to 4-1. In the seventh, the Whitecaps added their second run on a groundout by Seth Stephenson and nearly tied the game when Josue Briceño’s liner with runners on second and third base was speared by a diving catch from first baseman Kevin Rivas to end the threat. The eighth inning saw the ‘Caps draw even, scoring twice in an inning highlighted by a game-tying RBI-single by Peyton Graham to knot the contest at four. The game went to extra innings, and the ‘Caps stranded their runner in the tenth, setting up the walk-off single from Knapczyk to guarantee a series split for the Captains and giving them a chance to win the series on Sunday.
The Whitecaps drop to 5-3 while the Captains jump to the same record of 5-3. Captains reliever Kyle Scott (2-0) tossed 2.1 scoreless frames out of the bullpen to collect his second win, while ‘Caps reliever Micah Ashman (1-1) gave up the game-ending base hit in taking his first loss of the season. Devers finished the day going 4-for-5 with four RBI and two stolen bases, while Cole Turney was the only ‘Caps player with two hits in the contest. Briceño reached base thrice with a single and a pair of walks in the loss.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps and Lake County Captains finish this series from Classic Auto Group Park on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Carlos Marcano gets the start for West Michigan against lefty Caden Favors. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty on the Whitecaps Baseball Network begins at 12:45 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids to catch all the action, or listen to the game live at whitecapsbaseball.com.