MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

West Michigan Staves Off Lansing For Another Win

Published on August 6, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


LANSING, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps jumped onto the scoreboard early and held on for a wire-to-wire win on Monday night, using clutch pitching and tremendous defense to beat the Lansing Lugnuts, 6-3, at Cooley Law School Stadium.

West Michigan (21-22, 57-56) knocked off one of the Toronto Blue Jays' heralded pitching prospects for the second straight day, putting the 'Caps in position to win the four-game series if they can take the finale in Lansing (25-18, 72-40) on Tuesday night.

The Whitecaps reached the scoreboard in the top of the first inning against Lansing's Justin Nicolino, a talented left-hander rated by Baseball America as the No. 5 prospect in the Blue Jays' farm system. West Michigan collected five singles during the rally, including run-scoring knocks from Aaron Westlake, Jeff McVaney and Jason King for a 3-0 lead.

It was 4-0 when the Lugnuts fought back in the fifth, scoring three runs and benefiting from a towering two-run homer by Chris Schaeffer to trim the lead to 4-3.

From there, it took pitching and defense to hang on for the victory.

Nick Avila pitched the sixth inning out of the bullpen, making his first appearance in more than three weeks after being activated from the disabled list earlier in the day. After putting runners at the corners with nobody out, the right-hander got an infield pop-out and a pair of swinging strikeouts to strand both runners.

Will Clinard took over in the seventh and wiggled out of a bases-loaded jam with just one out. He was in trouble again after a leadoff triple in the eighth, but retired the next three batters in order to keep Lansing off the scoreboard once again. The eighth-inning effort was aided by a pair of spectacular defensive plays by third baseman Jason King and shortstop Eugenio Suarez.

Marcelo Carreno (6-8) threw the first five innings to earn the win, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out three and induced three groundball double plays, carrying a shutout into the fifth inning before the Lugnuts broke through.

Following the promotion of closer Dan Bennett to high Class-A Lakeland, Melvin Mercedes (3) worked a perfect ninth inning for the save.

Nicolino (7-4) took the loss for Lansing, allowing four runs - three earned - on six hits over five innings.

The Whitecaps are in the midst of a seven-game road trip that continues at 7:05 p.m. on Tuesday night with the finale of a four-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts. RHP Jeff Ferrell (4-4, 4.42) is scheduled to take the hill for West Michigan against RHP Anthony DeSclafani (9-3, 2.96) of Lansing. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, August 11, featuring a superhero cape giveaway on Superhero Night, an appearance by the incomparable Team Ghost Riders, and post-game fireworks. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.

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Midwest League Stories from August 6, 2012


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