Lake County Sentinel
First place Captains split twin bill with Cubs
BY TIM SHIRER
CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER
(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains and South Bend Cubs were scheduled to play game two of their three game series on Friday night at Classic Park, heavy rains caused a postponement of the game. So, on Saturday the two clubs played a doubleheader. Game one was a pitcher’s duel and went to the Cubs as they shut out the Captains 1-0. In game two the Captains used the long ball to come out on top 3-1.
GAME ONE: The only run of the game was scored in the top of the fifth inning when South Bend’s Delvin Zinn singled to third base with one out. Zinn then stole second base. The stolen base was Zinn’s fourth of the season. Eric Gonzalez followed with a single and Zinn moved to third base. The only run of the game then came when D.J. Artis bunted up the first base line, Artis was safe at first and Zinn came home giving the Cubs the insurmountable 1-0 lead.
Unfortunately for Captains starting pitcher Alex Royalty he was a victim of the Captains rare offensive no-show. Royalty a righthander went five strong innings allowing one run, it was earned on four hits. He also issued two base on balls and struck out five Cubs hitters. With the loss Royalty falls to 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA. Righty Riley Thompson pitched the gem for the Cubs. Thompson went five innings allowing only three hits while striking out five Captains. With the win Thompson improves to 2-1 with a 0.61 ERA.
GAME TWO: Was a different story from game one as the Captains scored three early runs. They got on the board with single runs in the first three innings.
In the first inning with one out Tyler Freeman drew a base on balls. Ruben Cardenas then singled, and Freeman moved to second. After Mitch Reeves struck out with Bo Naylor at the plate Freeman and Cardenas executed a double steal. Cubs starting pitcher Faustino Carrera made an errant throw to the third baseman and Freeman trotted home with the Captains first run.
In the second inning the scoring was simple. With two outs in the frame Angel Lopez blasted his first home run of the season into the left field bleacher. The long ball gave Lake County a 2-0.
The Cubs got on the board in the top of the third inning. With two outs Cole Roederer singled to right field. Roederer then scored when Aurora native Andy Weber hit a long fly ball to center field and Captains center fielder Quentin Holmes mishandled. Weber ended up at second base and the Captains lead was cut in half at 2-1.
The Captains once again used the long ball to add their third and final run of the game in the bottom of the third inning when Freeman belted his first home run of the season and extend the lead to 3-1.
Carrera took the loss for the Cubs going four innings allowing the three runs, two were earned on three hits. He also issued one base on balls and struck out six Captains. With the loss he falls to 1-1 with a 5.06 ERA. Luis Oviedo started for Lake County on the mound and picked up the win. Oviedo a righty went six innings and allowed just one unearned run on two hits. He did walk three Cubs, but also struck out five. With the win Oviedo improves to 3-1 with a 3.24 ERA. Dakody Clemmer picked up his third save of the season working the final inning and striking out one Cubs hitter to finish the game.
The Captains will have the day off on Easter Sunday and will be back in action on Monday night at Classic Park when they open a three-game series with the Dayton Dragons. Game time Monday night is 6:30 p.m. Righthander Jhon DeJesus will make the start for the Dragons. DeJesus is 1-1 with a 3.77 ERA. Southpaw Raymond Burgos will be on the hill for Lake County. Burgos is 2-0 with a 1.84 ERA..
tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @IndiansTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page
POSTED 04/20/2019 18:30
Lake County Captains shortstop Tyler Freeman.
Photo by Tim Shirer
