MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

'Caps Can't Break through in Bowling Green

July 8, 2014 - Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


BOWLING GREEN, KY - The West Michigan Whitecaps had their chances on Tuesday night, but the Bowling Green Hot Rods' pitching staff held firm and dealt the 'Caps their first loss of the road trip, a hard-fought 3-1 defeat at Bowling Green Ballpark.

After opening the road trip with a three-game sweep in Fort Wayne, West Michigan (11-7, 52-36) was hitless with runners in scoring position on Tuesday as Jake Faria led Bowling Green (6-12, 38-49) to the series-opening win.

Faria (5-4) was excellent in the victory, striking out seven without issuing a walk and giving up just one run over six innings. Though he gave up seven hits, the 20-year-old right-hander seemed to buckle down with men on base.

The Whitecaps were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, scoring their only run of the night on a solo homer by Javier Betancourt in the top of the third inning.

Betancourt's fourth longball of the year cut the deficit to 2-1, but the 'Caps were unable to crack the scoreboard again despite knocking on the door a number of times.

Faria had set down eight batters in a row when Dominic Ficociello and Wynton Bernard singled in the sixth to put runners at first and second with one out. Jeff Holm followed with a hard-hit ball up the middle, but it skipped up off the mound as second baseman Kean Wong made a back-handed snare of the ball to get a force-out at second. The nice defensive play forced Ficociello to stop and third, and the inning ended moments later when Willy Adames drilled a liner directly at the left fielder.

The one-run margin withstood two more opportunities over the next two innings. Grayson Greiner led off the seventh with a high fly ball into the left field corner that was caught on the warning track by James Harris. In the eighth, there was a runner at first with two outs when Wynton Bernard clubbed a ball to deep left-center, but Harris tracked it down on the warning track again to retire the side.

Bowling Green added a key insurance run on an RBI-double by Pat Blair in the bottom of the eighth. With a 3-1 score in the final frame, Hot Rods' closer Colton Reavis (5) worked around a leadoff walk and induced a game-ending double play from Greiner to close out the action.

Kevin Ziomek (7-6) had his four-game winning streak snapped in the loss. The left-hander scattered seven hits over five innings but allowed just two runs, which crossed the plate in the second inning on a sacrifice fly and a two-out infield single. Ziomek struck out five without issuing a walk.

Offensively, West Michigan registered nine hits despite scoring only one run. Betancourt was 2-for-4 with a homer, Ficociello was 3-for-4 to increase his league-leading hits total to 106, and Bernard was also 2-for-4 with a multi-hit game.

The Whitecaps continue their 10-game road trip on Wednesday night with an 8:05 p.m. ET first pitch against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. RHP Chad Green (2-3, 3.66) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against LHP Bruedlin Suero (1-1, 3.07) of Bowling Green. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be on Wednesday, July 16, at 7:00 p.m. featuring the interactive Aces in the Outfield promotion and post-game Family Fare fireworks. Season, group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps' front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.




Midwest League Stories from July 8, 2014


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