Vasquez leads rout as 'Caps win series

COMSTOCK PARK, MI - Danry Vasquez went 4-for-5 with four RBI and the West Michigan Whitecaps blew the game open with a seven-run outburst in the sixth inning on their way to a resounding 10-1 victory over the Lake County Captains on Wednesday afternoon at Fifth Third Ballpark.

West Michigan (8-9) won the rubber match of the three-game series against Lake County (6-13) to take the series and finish the homestand with a 3-3 record.

Vasquez was the star of the show, hitting safely in his first four plate appearances.

With two outs and a runner at third in the bottom of the third inning, the 19-year-old prospect from Venezuela looped a single to right field that tied the score at 1-1. Two batters later, Jeff Holm drilled a triple into the gap in right-center that plated two more runs to give the Whitecaps a 3-1 advantage.

That score remained until West Michigan's big rally in the sixth, a frame that saw 10 batters come to the plate as seven runs scored on five hits, one walk and an error.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with nobody out. Adolfo Reina followed by lining a sacrifice fly to center while Mario Martinez and Austin Schotts added run-scoring singles. After a would-be double play ball was booted to reload the bases, Vasquez smacked the first pitch he saw into right-center field for a bases clearing, three-run triple.

By the time Vasquez trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Devon Travis, the Whitecaps had seized a commanding 10-1 lead.

Josh Turley (3-1) earned the win out of the bullpen, bouncing back from a tough outing on Sunday to retire all six of the batters that he faced over two perfect innings. Starter Edgar De La Rosa did his best to battle through his four innings of work, allowing four hits and issuing four walks but limiting the damage to just one run.

Joe Colon (0-1) suffered the loss for Lake County despite striking out five of the first six batters that he faced and dominating outside of one bad stretch with two outs in the third. The right-hander struck out seven over five innings and was charged with three runs on six hits.

The Whitecaps hit the road for a six-game swing through Wisconsin that starts on Thursday night with a 7:35 p.m. ET first pitch against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Fox Cities Stadium. RHP Montreal Robertson (1-1, 2.16) is scheduled to take the hill for West Michigan against RHP Eric Semmelhack (0-0, 2.70) of the Timber Rattlers. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be at 6:35 p.m. on Wednesday, May 1, when fans are encouraged to wear orange for Dutch Day at the Ballpark. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.

Click here to view the box score.