Lake County Sentinel
Captains pitchers spin second shut of season, blanking Hot Rods 7-0
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains and Bowling Green Hot Rods played game three of their four games series on Wednesday night at Classic Park, the temperature was cooler than it had been recently, but the Captains bats remained hot as they shut out the visiting Hot Rods 7-0.
The Captains got on the board early in the first inning. Tyler Freeman led off the game by drawing a base on balls off Hot Rods starting pitcher Shane McClanahan. McClanahan a lefty also walked the second batter of the game Jose Fermin. Mitch Reeves then singled to center field and Freeman scored and Fermin moved to third base. McClanahan then uncorked a terrible throw to second base attempting to catch Reeves stealing and Fermin scored Lake County’s second run. Ruben Cardenas struck out swinging for the first out of the inning as Reeves stole third base. The theft by Reeves was his first of the season. Josh Rolette then came to the plate and doubled center field and Reeves came home to give the Captains a 3-0 lead. Quentin Holmes followed by drawing a base on balls and that was the end of the night for McClanahan. Steffon Moore came into reliever McClanahan who seemed have a melt down as after one of his final pitches he fired the ball back at the Bowling Green catcher at 65.9 mph when he wanted a new baseball. The catcher Chris Betts went out to talk with McClanahan and the lefty’s night did not last much longer. Moore entered and recorded the final two outs to hold the Captains lead 3-0 after one inning.
With one out in the bottom the second inning Freeman doubled center field and then Jose Fermin struck the big blow of the inning when he deposited a Moore pitch over the left field fence to give the Captains a 5-0 lead.
The Captains added their sixth run in the fourth inning when Freeman smashed a hard single to right field to start the frame. Freeman was then forced out at second base on a Fermin ground ball. Fermin was safe at first. Reeves then singled to right field and Fermin moved to third base. With runners on the corners Cardenas came through with single to left field and Fermin scored Lake County’s sixth run.
Lake County’s seventh run came in the bottom of the fifth inning when Marcos Gonzalez led off by drawing a base on balls. Trey Cumbie who relieved Moore in the fifth inning issued the free pass to Gonzalez. While Angel Lopez was at the plate Gonzalez stole second base. The steal was his third of the season. Lopez was then retired on strikes; Nelson then drew a base on balls to put runners on first and second for Freeman. Freeman then flew out to right field, neither runner could advance. The bases were then loaded when Fermin drew a base on balls. Gonzalez finally crossed home plate when Reeves drew the fourth base on balls of the inning and the Captains led 7-0.
Reeves was 3 for 4 on the night with a base on balls, one run scored and two RBI. Freeman was 2 for 4 with a base on balls and two runs scored. The Captains as a team had 10 hits in the game and drew eight base on balls.
Meanwhile Captains starter Luis Oviedo was shutting down the Hot Rods. Oviedo went five scoreless innings allowing only four hits, while issuing three base on balls and striking out two Bowling Green hitters. Oviedo picked up the win and improved to 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in two starts this season. McClanahan took the loss falling to 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA. McClanahan went one third of an inning allowing three runs, all earned on two hits, he issued three base on balls and struck out one batter.
The Captains improve to 5-2 with the win and remain in first place in the Eastern Division of the Midwest League. The shut out was the Captains second of the season.
The two clubs will play the final game of the series at 6:30 p.m. Righthander Joe Ryan will be on the mound for Bowling Green. Ryan has no record with a 9.00 ERA. Southpaw Raymond Burgos tows the rubber for the Captains. Burgos is 1-0, with 0.00 ERA.
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POSTED 04/10/2019 21:54
Lake County Captains shortstop Tyler Freeman.
Photo by Tim Shirer
