Curley's Big Night Guides Captains to 8-5 Win over Lugnuts
MWL Lake County Captains

Curley's Big Night Guides Captains to 8-5 Win over Lugnuts

Published on July 8, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


EASTLAKE, Ohio - In Game 1 of a six-game series, the Lake County Captains (46-33, 9-6) defeated the Lansing Lugnuts (33-47, 4-12) by a final score of 8-5 on Tuesday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

The Lake County offense struck for 13 hits on the night, highlighted by three-hit efforts from a trio of Captains in 3B Dean Curley, and SS Welbyn Francisca, and CF Aaron Walton.

The Captains set the tone right out of the gate, striking for four runs in the first inning with back-to-back home runs. First, Curley, MLB Pipeline's No. 11 Guardians prospect, blasted a three-run shot to plate the game's first three runs. 1B Nolan Schubart, MLB Pipeline's No. 28 Guardians prospect, then followed with a solo blast of his own the next at-bat.

An inning later, Lake County added on another run on a bases-loaded walk from Curley, making it a 5-0 ballgame.

Curley came through once more in the fourth, tacking on his fifth RBI of the night on a bloop single to right to drive in Walton, MLB Pipeline's No. 16 Guardians prospect.

Lansing found life in the sixth inning, pulling within one run with a five-run frame. The rally started with an RBI single from CF Pedro Pineda and a two-run single from 2B Gunner Gouldsmith, which made it a 6-3 contest. A fielding error from Captains 2B Tommy Hawke then allowed one more to score before an RBI single from 3B/SS Jared Sprague-Lott shaved the Lugnut deficit to just one.

Lake County got one run back in the home half of the sixth on an RBI single from Francisca, MLB Pipeline's No. 10 Guardians prospect. The Captains eventually tacked on one more for good measure in the eighth with an RBI single from LF Esteban González, who entered the game as a defensive substitute in the top of the frame.

RHP Jacob Zibin (W, 1-1) earned his first High-A win for Lake County, allowing two runs on three hits in five innings of work, striking out seven and walking three. The right-hander tossed an immaculate inning in the top of the fourth, Lake County's first immaculate inning since July 14, 2018 at Cedar Rapids (LHP Juan Hillman, bottom of the second inning).

RHP Samuel Dutton (L, 1-6) suffered the loss for Lansing, allowing six runs on five hits in 3.2 innings pitched, walking four and striking out one.

LHP Donovan Zsak (S, 3) earned the save for Lake County, allowing one hit and throwing one strikeout in a scoreless ninth inning out of the bullpen.

Game 2 of this week's six-game series between the Captains and Lugnuts is scheduled for Wednesday evening, July 8, at 7 p.m. Lake County will host iSTEM Night at the ballpark. The game will be broadcast on the Rock Entertainment Sports Network (RESN), the Bally Sports Live App, the MiLB App, and StreamGuys, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on X and Instagram.

For Wednesday and Thursday only, the Captains are offering a flash sale with $2.50 tickets to continue the celebration of America 250! Fans can purchase these limited-time tickets here by entering the coupon code USA250, clicking "Apply," then selecting their tickets.

NOTES TO KNOW

- 1B/OF Nolan Schubart, MLB Pipeline's No. 28 Guardians prospect, extended his on-base streak to 38 games with a solo home run on Tuesday night. The 2025 3rd-round pick out of Oklahoma State is batting .314 with 44 hits, nine doubles, one triple, 13 home runs, 44 RBI, 35 walks, and a 1.123 OPS during this span. This marks the longest on-base streak by a Captain since at least 2005 and the longest on-base streak in the Midwest League this season.

- INF Dean Curley reached base in all five of his plate appearances on Tuesday night, going 3-for-3 at the plate with a three-run home run and five RBI. The 2025 second-round pick out of Tennessee leads MiLB with 80 walks and ranks third with a .463 on-base percentage in 66 games played this season.

- LHP Donovan Zsak earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning out of the bullpen on Tuesday night. The 2024 eighth-round pick out of Rutgers owns a 1.06 ERA over his last 11 appearances, allowing just two runs in 17 innings pitched during this span.

Check out the Lake County Captains Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 8, 2026


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.

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