TinCaps Lose In 13 To Captains

EASTLAKE, Ohio - In the rubber match of a three-game series, the Lake County Captains received a walk-off base hit from left fielder Todd Hankins, defeating the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-3. With the win the Captains took the series, winning two of the three games, both in come-from-behind fashion.

Lake County (28-29) scored in the first inning against Fort Wayne (27-31). Cody Hebner surrendered a leadoff walk to Todd Hankins, who later came in to score on a single by Jordan Smith.

Trailing 1-0, the TinCaps took the lead in the fourth inning. Tyler Stubblefield led off with a single, and Travis Whitmore followed with a double to score his infield teammate, and the score was tied at one. Whitmore moved to third on a Casey McElroy groundout, and later scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Lee Orr.

Hebner went six innings, allowing one run on three hits, walking one and striking out eight. He departed after the sixth inning, which ended with him being hit by a line drive off the bat of Captains designated hitter Carlos Santana. Santana was with the club on Monday night as part of a rehab assignment with the Cleveland Indians.

The Fort Wayne advantage went from 2-1 to 3-1 in the seventh inning on a leadoff home run by Casey McElroy. It was the infielder’s fifth home run of the year, and it gave him his team-leading 27 ^th RBI.

In the eighth, reliever Matt Stites came on for the TinCaps. Stites had allowed two earned runs in 18 1/3 innings of work prior to Monday night. A leadoff error by shortstop Tyler Stubblefield allowed Zach MacPhee to reach first base. Stites then recorded two outs before Santana came to the plate. Santana, who played with the Great Lakes Loons in 2007 as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers organization, hit his eighth ever home run in a Midwest League ballpark, delivering a game-tying, two-run shot to right.

The game remained tied at eight until the bottom of the 13 ^th. Robert Eisenbach was in his second inning of work, and allowed a leadoff double to Lake County’s Alex Monsalve. Monsalve advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Leonardo Castillo. The TinCaps then walked Robel Garcia, which brough MacPhee to the plate. He grounded to second, and McElroy threw home, retiring Monsalve at the plate for the second out of the inning. Hankins then came up and lined a base hit past Kyle Gaedele in right, scoring Garcia and ending the game.

The winning pitcher was Mason Radeke, who worked the final three frames of the game for the Captains. Eisenbach took the loss, his second of the year.

Fort Wayne is off on Tuesday. The TinCaps return to action on Wednesday night at West Michigan with a first pitch scheduled for 7:00 PM. The scheduled starters are Frank Garces for Fort Wayne and Kyle Ryan for West Michigan. Coverage can be heard on 1380 ESPN and ESPNFortWayne.com