MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Castellanos, Bullpen Help 'Caps to Sweep

Published on May 9, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - Nick Castellanos went 3-for-4 and the West Michigan Whitecaps swept away the Dayton Dragons with a 5-4 win at Fifth Third Ballpark on Monday night.

West Michigan (13-17) won their fifth consecutive game in the process, returning the favor for a three-game sweep suffered at the expense of the Dragons last month in Ohio. Dayton (15-17) continued their recent slide, losing for the eighth time in their last nine games.

The Dragons jumped out to a quick lead in the top of the first inning. Jefry Sierra reached base on a one-out single and Dominic D'Anna followed with a long fly ball to right that bounced off the top of the wall and over the fence for a two-run homer. Later in the inning, David Vidal drew a two-out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Donald Lutz promptly lined a single to left, scoring Vidal for a 3-0 advantage.

It started to rain as the bottom of the first began. Dixon Machado led off the inning with a single, but shortly thereafter the rain turned to hail and the game was put into a weather delay.

Play resumed 55 minutes later and the Whitecaps went back to work. Machado advanced from first to third on a base hit by Luis Castillo and scored on a groundout by Rob Brantly. One inning later, Ryan Hamme drew a walk and scored on a two-out triple by Jeff Rowland to cut the deficit to 3-2.

West Michigan took the lead for good in the fourth. Singles by Castellanos and P.J. Polk put men at first and second with one out when Rowland fought off a broken-bat liner up the middle. The one-hopper was mishandled by shortstop Billy Hamilton, allowing Castellanos to score. Two batters later, Castillo lined a single to right to bring in Polk for a 4-3 edge.

Castellanos tripled and scored in the fifth to stretch the lead to 5-3, while the Dragons scratched across an unearned run in the seventh to make it a one-run game.

The slim margin held up thanks to a strong effort from the bullpen. Dan Gentzler, Ramon Lebron and Bruce Rondon combined to allow just one unearned run over six innings while striking out 10 and walking one. Gentzler (1-0) picked up the win with three strong innings despite pitching on back-to-back nights, while Rondon (3) struck out three and stranded the potential game-tying run at second base to earn the save.

Dayton's Josh Smith (2-3), who entered play leading the league in strikeouts and tied for sixth in ERA, suffered the loss. The righty, whose outing was disrupted by the lengthy first-inning rain delay, was charged with four runs - two earned - on six hits over 3.1 innings.

The Whitecaps continue their homestand at Fifth Third Ballpark with a doubleheader against the South Bend Silver Hawks at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday evening. LHP Antonio Cruz (0-3, 3.07) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan in the first game while the second starter has yet to be announced. South Bend will send RHP J.R. Bradley (0-5, 5.61) to the mound for the opener and Jenison native LHP Dan Taylor (2-1, 0.63) for the nightcap. It will be Silver Slugger Night presented by Humana Health Care in addition to Big O' Café Night and a Fat Tuesday with all-you-can-eat food specials. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting whitecapsbaseball.com.

Check out the West Michigan Whitecaps Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from May 9, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central