TinCaps Baseball: Caps Find Success In The Commonwealth
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The TinCaps won both games of a doubleheader against the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Sunday afternoon. Fort Wayne won Game 1, 8-2, and took Game 2, 6-2. The wins came after losing 4-0 Saturday night.
In Game 1, Fort Wayne (3-1, 29-45) jumped on the board in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded, Fernando Tatis Jr. worked a walk to give the TinCaps a 1-0 lead. Buddy Reed followed with a grand slam to right-center field to clear the bases and put Fort Wayne up 5-0. It was Reed’s first home run of his professional career.
The TinCaps extended the lead in the fifth inning. With runners on second and third base and one out, Jorge Oña singled to score Rod Boykin for a 6-0 advantage. Then, with G.K. Young batting, Tatis Jr. stole home to put the TinCaps in front 7-0. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and two outs, Reinaldo Ilarraza worked a walk to make it 8-0.
Bowling Green (1-3, 32-39) got a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. With runners on first and second, Garrett Whitley doubled to score Nate Lowe and cut the Fort Wayne lead to 8-1. Miles Mastrobuoni followed with a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Matt Brosseau to make it 8-2.
Fort Wayne starting pitcher Pedro Avila (W) allowed just two runs in six innings of work. The 20-year-old struck out five batters.
Hot Rods starting pitcher Kenny Rosenberg (L) gave up five runs on three hits in three innings on the mound.
In Game 2, the TinCaps wasted no time taking the lead. In the top of the first inning, with Reed at second base and two outs, Brad Zunica doubled to left-center field, scoring Reed for a 1-0 lead. Hudson Potts followed with a two-run home run down the right-field line to give the TinCaps a 3-0 edge.
Fort Wayne added to its lead in the third. With two outs, Oña homered for the sixth time this season to give the TinCaps a 4-0 advantage.
Bowling Green cut the Fort Wayne lead in half in the fifth. With one out and a runner on first, Garrett Whitley doubled to score Eleardo Cabrera to make it 4-1. Two batters later, Josh Lowe singled to score Whitley and cut the Fort Wayne advantage to 4-2.
The TinCaps came back with a run in the sixth. With one out, Zunica homered to right-center field for a 5-2 lead. The homer was Zunica’s team-leading 11th of the season.
Fort Wayne added the final run in the seventh. With runners on first and third and two outs, Reed reached base on an infield single that scored A.J. Kennedy from third to make it 6-2.
TinCaps starter Logan Allen (W) struck out a career-high 10 batters in six innings of work.
Hot Rods starter J.D. Busfield (L) struck out 10 batters in six innings as well, but Busfield gave up all three home runs that the TinCaps hit.
Saturday night, Fort Wayne fell 4-0 to the Hot Rods. The loss ended Fort Wayne’s three-game winning streak.
Bowling Green scored all of the game’s runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Jesus Sanchez singled to score Mike Brosseau for a 1-0 Hot Rods lead. Three batters later, with the bases still loaded and two outs, Miles Mastrobuoni singled to score Nate Lowe and Jonah Heim for a 3-0 advantage. Lucius Fox followed with a single, scoring Sanchez for a 4-0 Bowling Green lead.
Fort Wayne struggled from the plate, picking up just three total hits. First baseman Brad Zunica led the way with two singles, while right fielder Jack Suwinski added a hit as well. Zunica is now 16-for-41 over his last 11 games.
Hot Rods starting pitcher Ethan Clark (W) threw six scoreless, one-hit innings and struck out nine batters.
TinCaps starting pitcher Will Stillman worked four scoreless innings, while allowing just two hits and striking out six batters. Fort Wayne reliever Hansel Rodriguez (L) pitched a scoreless fifth inning but gave up all four runs in the sixth.