Captains cruise into first place tie and eighth straight win in 9-1 victory over TinCaps

(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains entered Saturday night’s game on a seven-game winning streak and won the first four of their six game series against the Fort Wayne TinCaps. Saturday was another ho hum night at Classic Park as the Captains extended their season long win streak to eight games and move into a first-place tie with a 9-1 win.

The Captains got on the board first in the second inning when Captains centerfielder Petey Halpin blasted a pitch from Fort Wayne starter Jose Espada deep over the right field wall on the grass. The long ball was Halpin’s fourth of the season. It was a solo shot and gave Lake County a 1-0 lead.

The Captains added three more runs in the third inning. The first run of the inning came when Joe Naranjo doubled and drove home Connor Kokx who reached on an error earlier in the inning. However, on the play Milan Tolentino who had singled earlier in the inning was thrown out at home plate. Jonathan Rodriguez then came to the plate and had the big blow in the inning when he smacked his 20th home run of the season over the right center field fence bounce high off the University Health sign which is about 16 feet high behind the wall and about 20 feet high.

The TinCaps got on the board in the top of the fifth inning when Captains starter Tommy Mace had to exit the game after warming up prior to the inning with a blister on his pitching hand. Brian Eichhorn entered the game. After taking all of the time he needed due to entering because of an injury Eichhorn worked the count to 3-2 on Olivier Basabe before Basabe deposited the next pitch into the bleachers cutting the Captains lead to three at 4-1.

Lake County came right back in the bottom of the inning with two runs when Angel Martinez hit a solo blast off Luke Boyd who replaced the starter Espada to start the inning. The home run was Martinez ninth of the season and gave the Captains a 5-1 lead. Tolentino followed with a base on balls. He then stole second. After Joe Naranjo struck out Jonathan Rodriguez came to the plate and singled rightfield driving home Tolentino extending the lead to 6-1.

The Captains sealed the TinCaps fate once and for all in the bottom of the eighth when Connor Kokx blasted his fifth home run of the season over the left field wall to give the Captains a 9-1 lead.

The Captains are now tied for first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division with the West Michigan Whitecaps due to the Whitecaps 8-2 loss tonight in Beloit against the Sky Carp.

The Captains and TinCaps will play the series finale on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 pm. The TinCaps will send Garrett Hawkins to the mound. Hawkins, a righthander will be making his High-A debut. Hawkins was a ninth-round pick in 2021 of the San Diego Padres out of the University British Columbia. Rodney Boone will be on the mound for the Captains. Boone, a lefty is 2-3 with a 5.59 ERA.

tshirer@lakecountysentinel.com or follow Tim on Twitter @TBBucsTim Check out our IndiansNation fan Page

POSTED 08/13/2022 22:28

Lake County Captains outfielder Connor Kokx. Photo by Tim Shirer