Game Report 1 - 5/4/2023 - Fort Wayne TinCaps (SD) @ Lake County Captains (CLE)
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Game Report 1 - 5/4/2023 - Fort Wayne TinCaps (SD) @ Lake County Captains (CLE)
The first game in a doubleheader between the High-A affiliates of the San Diego Padres and Cleveland Guardians, this is my first game report of the 2023 MiLB season
The game started at 4:35 p.m., the temperature was in the mid-50s. Since it was a doubleheader being played, both games were seven innings long instead of the standard nine.
Drafted in the eighth round of the 2021 MLB Draft out of UC Santa Barbara, left-hander Rodney Boone made his third start of the season for Lake County. He came into the game with a 4.82 ERA and 0-1 win-loss record in 9.1 innings pitched.
Canadian pitcher Garrett Hawkins made his fourth start of the 2023 MiLB season for Fort Wayne. Standing 6’5’’ and weighing around 230 pounds, Hawkins had thrown 11 innings and pitched to the tune of a 2.45 ERA so far.
Fort Wayne’s leadoff batter and centerfielder Jakob Marsee would reach base on a bloop single to right field. Batting in the two-hole, shortstop Jackson Merrill flew out on the infield. One of the top prospects in the Padres farm system and the 27th overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Merrill has a .298/.356/.450 MiLB career slash line.
The third batter in the Fort Wayne lineup would reach on a single before Boone walked the clean-up batter to load the bases with one out. He got the final two outs of the first inning via the strikeout, escaping the bases-loaded situation unscathed.
Leading off for Lake County, second baseman Juan Brito set the table with a line-drive single. His double-play partner Milan Tolentino followed up with a double that put two runners on second and third base with no outs.
Batting third, Joe Lampe would get an RBI on a groundout to the second baseman that Juan Brito successfully scored on. Tolentino would advance to third during the play. Clean-up hitter Jorge Burgos would reach first base on a fielder’s choice by the TinCaps third baseman Marcos Castonon who successfully threw out Milan Tolentino at home for the second out of the first inning.
Outfielder Isaiah Greene hit a two-run home run to make the score 3-0, pulling a ball deep into right field. Switch hitter Yordys Valdes hit a single before first baseman Junior Sanquintin grounded out to end the inning.
Boone retired the side for the top of the second inning, striking out two opposing batters in the process. The Captains’ catcher Micael Ramirez led off the bottom of the second inning with a single. Three straight strikeouts by the Captains lineup ended the second inning.
The top of the third inning would begin with a leadoff double by Fort Wayne center fielder Jakob Marsee on a bloop single to left-center field. Starting in left field for Lake County, Greene injured his right wrist attempting to field the ball, landing on his arm awkwardly. A groundout by Jackson Merrill moved the baserunner to third before a sacrifice fly by the following batter made the score 1-3 with one out.
Fort Wayne clean-up batter Nathan Martorella hit a double and left fielder Lucas Dunn drew a walk before Lake County relief pitcher Sergio Morillo replaced Rodney Boone. Morillo walked Colton Bender, creating a situation where the bases were loaded with two outs.
The relief pitcher threw a wild pitch that allowed two Fort Wayne runners to score, tieing the game at 3-3. Catcher Micael Ramirez logged a throwing error on an errant throw after tracking down the wild pitch. Bender moved to second base in the ensuing chaos.
Morillo walked the next two opposing batters, putting himself in another bases-loaded situation. Pichardo hit a grand slam for Fort Wayne to make it seven total runs for the TinCaps in the third inning before the following batter struck out to end the inning. The score was 7-3 when the dust settled.
The heart of Lake County’s batting order, Lampe and Burgos were the first two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Cesar Idrogo pinch-hit for Isaiah Greene due to his aforementioned wrist injury, also taking his place in left field. He struck out after reaching a 3-2 count to end the inning.
Relief pitcher Trenton Denholm took the mound for Lake County, replacing Sergio Morillo. The TinCaps recorded three quick outs in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Yordys Valdes logged his second hit of the game and fifth double of the season. The three Captains batters to follow Valdes after he got on base would put the ball in play but record three straight outs.
In the top of the fifth inning, Denholm would record three more outs for Lake County. He got Dunn to groundout, Bender hit a flyout to right field, and Farmer lined out to shortstop Milan Tolentino.
Relief pitcher Aaron Holiday replaced Hawkins for Fort Wayne, ending the Canadian starter’s night. Brito led off the bottom of the fifth inning for Lake County with a solo home run to right field. Tolentino drew a four-pitch walk followed by a Lampe single that put runners on first and second with no outs.
Burgos hit a pop-up on the infield and then Idrogo struck out for the first two outs of the inning. Valdes recorded his third hit of the night with an RBI single to left field that allowed Tolentino to score. Valdes and Lampe subsequently pulled off a successful double steal of second and third base. The first baseman Sanquintin struck out to end the potential rally at two runs scored.
Going into the top of the sixth inning the score was now 7-5 with the Captains possessing the momentum. Fort Wayne responded to Lake County’s rally in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs to extend the lead back to four. The inning began with a fly out to center field before Pichardo and Marsee reached base via a single and a walk.
The Fort Wayne shortstop Merrill hit a very loud line drive to the right field wall for an RBI, putting baserunners on second and third with one out. The following batter would record an RBI on a sacrifice fly that made the score 9-5. Fort Wayne’s clean-up hitter would reach on a walk before stealing second base. Batting fifth, the left fielder Dunn struck out to end the top of the sixth inning.
Jason Blanchard came into the game out of Fort Wayne’s bullpen, striking out back-to-back batters and inducing a harmless flyout to end the sixth inning.
In the top of the seventh inning, Elvis Jerez replaced Trenton Denholm as the Captains pitcher. Fort Wayne would tack on two more runs to put this shortened game out of reach. Jerez did not have any feel for his arsenal, walking three straight batters to load the bases with no outs.
After that, he hit a batter with the bases loaded to make the score 10-5. He then walked the following batter, stretching Fort Wayne’s lead to six runs. He got the first out on a Merrill sacrifice fly before being replaced by Tyler Thornton. Before an out was recorded in the seventh, Fort Wayne’s run total had suddenly ballooned by three more runs to 12.
Thornton got a strikeout before Martorella hit an RBI single for his second hit and fourth time on base, making the score 13-5. Dunn hit a pop-up on the infield to end the top of the seventh inning.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, Blanchard recorded three quick outs to end the game and secure the win for the TinCaps. The relief pitcher who has been Fort Wayne’s relief ace so far this season got a win logged on his win-loss record also. Lampe, Burgos, and Idrogo all put the ball in play but flew out or grounded out very early in their last plate appearances of the game.
FINAL SCORE: Fort Wayne TinCaps 13, Lake County Captains 5
Conclusion
While Lake County managed to score five runs, they left a whopping 18 men on base. They failed to get a hit with multiple runners on base and less than two outs after a quick start with the three-run first inning because of Isaiah Greene’s home run. The Lake County pitching staff was absolutely horrendous to boot, allowing 13 runs to score. Fort Wayne left an additional 14 runners left on base. The Fort Wayne TinCaps won the first game of this doubleheader because they got hits with runners on base while the Lake County Captains failed to convert multiple opportunities to push runners across the plate.