TinCaps Baseball: Paz, Loons Walk Off A Winner [VIDEO]
MIDLAND, Mich. – Despite home runs from G.K. Young and Rod Boykin, the TinCaps lost in walk-off fashion to the Great Lakes Loons, 5-4, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond. Luis Paz hit a game-winning homer to right field in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Fort Wayne (7-10) initially led 1-0 in the top of the second thanks to an RBI single by the first baseman Young.
Great Lakes (6-11), however, put up a pair against TinCaps starter Will Headean in the home second and added another in the third to lead, 3-1.
The TinCaps equalized in the fourth with Young’s two-run homer that was crushed to right field. He brought in third baseman Eguy Rosario, who’d drawn a two-out walk. It was Young’s second home run of the season, tying him for the team lead.
The visitors retook the lead in the fifth, 4-3, as left fielder Rod Boykin launched his first home run as a TinCap the opposite way, over the fence in right. It was Boykin’s first home run since Aug. 28, 2015, when he was with Short-Season Tri-City.
The lead didn’t last long again, though. Carlos Rincon vaulted a game-tying homer in the home fifth.
Neither side scored again until Paz’s blast. Following six innings from Headean, Nick Monroe (L) had retired the first seven batters he faced prior to Paz, a 20-year-old from Brazil.
Sven Schuller (W) threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings for the Loons, who salvaged a split of the four-game series.
Ironically, this was the first walk-off homer for Great Lakes since July 8, 2014. That also came in a 5-4 game against the TinCaps, and it was hit by Webster Rivas, Fort Wayne’s catcher on Sunday.
TinCaps third baseman Hudson Potts extended his hitting streak to nine games with a second-inning single.