Captains fail to sweep Whitecaps with 3-1 loss in pitchers duel

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Lake County Sentinel

Captains fail to sweep Whitecaps with 3-1 loss in pitchers duel

BY TIM SHIRER

CAPTAINS BEAT WRITER

(EASTLAKE, OH) - The Lake County Captains and West Michigan Whitecaps finished up their three-game series on Monday night. The series has playoff implications as the Whitecaps led the Captains by four games for the final playoff spot in the Midwest League East Division. The Captains have won the first two games of the series and headed into game three only two games behind West Michigan. The Captains could not finish the sweep as they fell in a pitcher’s duel 3-1 in front of 2,749 fans at Classic Park.

The Whitecaps scored a single run in the fourth inning off Captains starter Jean Carlos Mejia. That was the only blemish on the scoreboard in the seven innings that the 6'4 righty worked. In his seven innings he gave up five hits and struck out nine.

The problem was that the Captains bats failed to show up as they totaled only four hits on the night. The Captains got a base runner, Gabriel Mejia as far as third base in the eighth inning with two outs after a base on balls and a two base throwing error by the pitcher. But they failed to get him home as Will Benson struck out to end the threat.

The Whitecaps added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning when Dakody Clemmer allowed base on balls followed by two straight singles, he then recorded a strike out before allowing an RBI single. He then got a fielder's choice ground out to retire the runner at the plate before walking home the second run with bases loaded.

The Captains finally pushed a run across in the ninth inning when Josh Rolette singled with one out. Then after Jose Vicente struck out for the second out of the inning Richie Palacios single to drive home Rolette for the Captains only tally of the evening.

West Michigan starter Elvin Rodriguez picked up the win. Rodriguez went five plus innings. Rodriguez struck out six Captains and issued one base on balls along with three hits. The third hit of the night came off the bat off Gabriel Mejia and ended Rodriguez’s night as the ball skipped off the mound into Rodriguez’s lower leg. He had to leave the field on the grounds crew’s cart, it was a tough ending to a well-pitched game. With the win Rodriguez improves to 7-7 with a 3.49 ERA. Johan Belisario picked up the save for the Whitecaps, it was his third save of the year. Jean Carlos Mejia took the loss for the Captains. With the loss Mejia falls to 4-7 with 2.56 ERA.

With the loss the Captains fall to three games behind the Whitecaps for the final playoff spot in the Midwest Eastern Division.

The Captains will open a three-game series on Tuesday night with the South Bend Cubs at 7:00 p.m. The Cubs have not yet named their starting pitcher. The Captains will have Felix Tati on the mound. Tati a right hander is 1-3 with a 4.38 ERA..