Silver Hawks Sweep Double Header
June 6, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release
A combination of strong pitching, timely hitting, and Lake County Captains fielding miscues led to a doubleheader sweep by the 1st place South Bend Silver Hawks on Thursday afternoon. The Hawks won 6-1 in the opener and 5-2 in the second half of the twin bill. Carter Bell was the hitting star for the Hawks on the day, going a combined 4-for-6 with a homerun, two doubles, and five RBIs in the two games. The sweep gives South Bend (41-17) a seven-game winning streak and the Hawks have now won 16 of their last 17 games. Lake County (20-37) continued to struggle with getting out of its own way, committing three errors on the day, bringing their season total to 98.
Game 1
Brandon Sinnery (3-2) tossed a seven-inning complete game and first baseman Carter Bell drove in four runs as the South Bend Silver Hawks cruised to a 6-1 victory over the Lake County Captains in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader.
The 10:35am start caused a sleepy first inning as neither team was able to mount a threat. The Hawks bats woke up in the bottom of the second inning to give South Bend an early lead. Designated hitter Rudy Flores drew a one out walk and moved up to second when left fielder Alex Glenn walked with two outs. Bell then grounded a single to center that scored Flores from second for the first run of the game and a 1-0 Hawks lead.
South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, broke open the game in the bottom of the third against Lake County starter Jake Sisco (2-5) with the help of some shoddy Captains fielding. Shortstop Andrew Velazquez led off the inning with a hot shot to second that knocked over Captains second baseman Yhoxian Medina for an error. Velazquez then swiped second base and went around to third when Lake County catcher Jeremy Lucas threw the ball into center field. Right fielder Socrates Brito stretched the lead to 2-0 by flaring a single just over the shortstop's head into left field. Brito also stole second before third baseman Brandon Drury laced a double down the left field line to drive him in. Flores and Glenn later walked in the inning to load the bases for Bell with two outs. After a visit from the Lake County pitching coach, Bell smoked a line drive double to left field that cleared the bases and gave the Hawks a 6-0 lead.
Sinnery, recently named a Midwest League All-Star, shut down the Captains lineup in his complete-game effort. He gave up just one run on a solo homer, hit by Lake County designated hitter Richard Stock in the top of the fifth inning. Sinnery limited the Captains to three hits and one walk while striking out four batters in seven innings. Captains' errors haunted them again in the game as Cisco gave up six runs, only two of them earned, in three innings of work.
Game 2
A three-run bottom of the fifth inning put the Silver Hawks ahead for good as they took Game 2 of the doubleheader 5-2 over the Captains. The Hawks pitching staff held the Captains to two hits en route to the victory.
The Silver Hawks got on the board first in Game 2 of the twin bill. After a scoreless first inning, third baseman Carter Bell launched a 0-2 pitch from Lake County starter Josh Martin over the left-center field fence for his second homerun of the season and a 1-0 South Bend lead.
Blake Perry (3-2) held the lead for the Hawks until the top of the fifth inning, when the Captains plated two runs on just one hit, taking a 2-1 lead. Catcher Richard Stock led off the inning with a double off the base of the center field wall. Second baseman Yhoxian Medina was then hit by a pitch. Perry's first pitch to third baseman Erik Gonzalez went to the backstop to put runners at second and third. Gonzalez lifted a sacrifice fly to deep right field to tie the game, scoring Stock from third and advancing Medina to third. Perry got the next hitter, Captains shortstop Dorssys Paulino, to hit a ground ball to third base. Bell threw home in time to get Medina at the plate but the throw was dropped by catcher Roidany Aguila, giving the Captains a 2-1 lead.
Surrendering the lead did not sit well with the Hawks offense, as they immediately struck back for three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to regain the lead. Bell led off the inning with a double to left field. He advanced to third on a wild pitch before left fielder Mike Lang was hit by a pitch. With runners at the corners, shortstop Pedro Ruiz singled up the middle to score Bell and advance Lang around to third. The Captains were then bitten by the error bug again as reliever Benny Suarez (1-1) threw a pickoff attempt wide of the first baseman and into the Hawks bullpen, scoring Lang, sending Ruiz from first to third, and giving the Hawks the 3-2 lead. Up next, Velazquez smashed a double past the third baseman and down the left field line, scoring Ruiz and extending the Hawks lead to 4-2.
Lake County, the Class-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians, started a rally against Perry in the bottom of the fifth inning when the first two hitters walked. Enrique Garcia then entered the game in relief of Perry and retired left fielder Jorge Martinez on a sacrifice bunt. He then struck out Stock to keep the runners in place at second and third. Playing the matchups, the Hawks brought in righthander Chris Capper to face Medina, who flew out to end the inning.
The Silver Hawks tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning. Designated hitter Brandon Drury walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second on first baseman Rudy Flores' groundout. Aguila then singled into left field to score Drury, making it a 5-2 game.
South Bend turned to Midwest League All-Star, and league leader in saves, RJ Hively (S, 16) to close the game out in the bottom of the seventh. He worked around a two out ground rule double to left field to pitch a scoreless ninth inning and close out the sweep.
The four-game series concludes on Friday night with first pitch at 7:35pm. The Hawks will look to close out a series sweep and move closer to clinching a playoff berth (magic number 2) and the first-half Eastern Division championship (magic number 7). Dylan Baker (1-5, 5.02 ERA) takes the mound for the Captains while Kyle Winkler (1-0, 0.00 ERA) will get the start for the Hawks. There is an exciting trio of promotions on Friday night. First, it's a Fireworks Friday at the Cove so stick around for a post-game fireworks show. Second, there are Barefoot Fresh Tastings so come for the free wine tastings at the Cove. Finally, it is also Donate Life Night with a booth on the concourse to register as an organ donor. Special team jerseys will be given away during the game.
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