TinCaps Lose Rain-Shortened Game

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The TinCaps had the tying runs on base when the rain came in the bottom of the seventh inning, but the rain did not let up, and Fort Wayne lost 5-3 to the West Michigan Whitecaps in a rain-shortened game Thursday night at Parkview Field.

Fort Wayne (27-19, 58-58) struck first in the bottom of the second. Yeison Asencio led off the inning with a double, moved to third on a fly out by Travis Whitmore, and scored on a Duanel Jones sacrifice fly. The next batter, Austin Hedges, hit a solo home run, his team lead-tying ninth of the season, to make it 2-0 Fort Wayne.

West Michigan (23-23, 59-57) answered in the third when Zach Maggard hit a solo home run. The Whitecaps added two more runs in the fourth off of Ruben Mejia (1-6). Shortstop Eugenio Suarez reached on an error to lead off the inning, and Aaron Westlake followed with a triple to score Suarez. Jeff McVaney singled home Westlake to give West Michigan a 3-2 lead.  

The Whitecaps plated two more runs in the fifth. Jason Krizan singled to lead off the inning, and scored on a double by Maggard.  Maggard moved to third on a Chard Wright bunt, and scored when Brandon Loy grounded into a force out.

Duanel Jones led off the bottom of the seventh with a single. After Austin Hedges struck out, Kyle Gaedele was hit by a pitch, moving Jones to second. BJ Guinn followed with an RBI single, scoring Jones from second. The next batter, Jace Peterson, lined out to third base. West Michigan made a pitching change, replacing Brennan Smith (2-4) with Michael Torrealba. As Mike Gallic stepped into the batter’s box, the rain began to fall and play was suspended. After a  delay of one hour and 13 minutes, the game was called because of the inclement weather.

The TinCaps and the Whitecaps play the rubber game of the series Friday night at Parkview Field. James Needyis scheduled to start for Fort Wayne, with Kyle Ryan slated to go for West Michigan. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05.