MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Durham Lifts Whitecaps Over Hot Rods

Published on May 20, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps were still smiling after more than five hours at the ballpark on Monday, ending a long and wet afternoon in walk-off fashion with a 7-6, 11-inning victory over the Bowling Green Hot Rods at Fifth Third Ballpark.

West Michigan (20-22) and Bowling Green (27-16) played a three-hour and 59-minute game that also included a one-hour and 11-minute rain delay prior to the start of the 11th inning. Before the rain hit, the bonus baseball was made necessary by a wild stretch that featured a combined four errors and five unearned runs as the two clubs traded the lead back and forth.

Most of the school day crowd of 7,486 was long gone by the time Lance Durham blasted a walk-off double to the center field wall, scoring Devon Travis from first base for the 7-6 victory. It capped a 3-for-6 day for Durham, who slugged a pair of two-run homers and drive in five runs. Travis went 4-for-6 with a double and three runs scored while Jeff Holm finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and one RBI.

Josh Turley (5-1) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Following the 71-minute rain delay between the 10th and 11th innings, Turley worked around a pair of walks to keep the Hot Rods off the scoreboard in the top of the 11th.

Ryan Garton (0-2) took over for Bowling Green and immediately gave up a leadoff single to Travis in the bottom of the 11th. One out later, Durham clubbed a ball to deep center field that eluded a leaping attempt by Andrew Toles and bounced off the wall. Travis beat the subsequent relay throw to the plate, ending the marathon just 16 minutes after play had resumed.

The rain delay and walk-off drama overshadowed a thrilling first 10 innings of play.

Durham's first home run left the ‘Caps with a 2-1 lead heading into the sixth inning, at which point the game turned into a wild back-and-forth affair.

West Michigan committed three errors during a sloppy top of the sixth, leading to three unearned runs as Bowling Green jumped ahead, 4-2. But the Whitecaps quickly responded in the bottom of the inning. After Travis led off with a double and scored on a base hit by Holm, Durham launched his second two-run bomb of the day to put the ‘Caps back in front, 5-4.

The game took another bizarre turn in the eighth. After Justin O'Conner lined a base hit into the left field corner, Danry Vasquez - thinking the ball was foul - picked up the baseball and flipped it into the stands. The penalty gave O'Conner two bases and put him at third with nobody out while charging Vasquez with his second error of the day.

O'Conner went on to score an unearned run that tied the game, and one inning later an RBI-triple by Toles gave the Hot Rods a 6-5 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.

Another leadoff hit by Travis in the bottom of the ninth helped the Whitecaps tie the score. Later, with two men aboard and one out, Mario Martinez sent a bouncer to third and Tyler Goeddel sailed his throw past first base as Travis crossed the plate for the game-tying run. West Michigan went on to load the bases with one out in the ninth, but Bowling Green brought in a fifth infielder and induced a 4-2-3 double play to limit the damage and send the game into extra innings.

The Whitecaps will have Tuesday off before heading out of town for a six-game road trip that begins on Wednesday night with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch against the Dayton Dragons. RHP Edgar De La Rosa (2-0, 5.68) is scheduled to take the mound for West Michigan against RHP Pedro Diaz (0-4, 7.29) of the Dragons. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be the extremely popular Dime Dog Night on Tuesday, May 28 at 6:35 p.m. 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 May 20, 2013


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