MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Gulliver's Walk-Off Caps Another 1-0 Win

Published on June 17, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - Something about a home stand finale seems to get the West Michigan Whitecaps up for a dramatic finish.

On Thursday night at Fifth Third Ballpark, the Whitecaps wrapped up the home portion of their first-half schedule with a 1-0 win over the Lake County Captains that was capped by Jimmy Gulliver's walk-off double with two outs in the bottom of the 11th.

The dramatic victory came just 10 days after Alexis Espinoza closed out their previous homestand with a walk-off home run in extra innings. Thursday's win gave West Michigan (25-41) two of the three games in the series, knocking Lake County (25-41) out of first place for the first time this half and dealing a serious blow to the Captains' quest for a divisional title.

Despite a pair of dramatic plays at the plate earlier in the evening, the game was scoreless heading into the bottom of the 10th inning. Jordan Lennerton started the decisive rally with a one-out single and pinch runner Avisail Garcia promptly stole second base. After Espinoza struck out, Captains reliever Preston Guilmet intentionally walked Tony Plagman. With two outs and runners at first and second, Gulliver worked the count full before smacking the game-winning double into the gap in left-center to send the crowd into pandemonium with the 1-0 walk-off victory.

Kenny Faulk (3-2) earned the win out of the bullpen, tossing a scoreless top of the 11th and notching a crucial strikeout to strand two runners on base. That capped a combined three-hit shutout that also featured five scoreless frames from starter Ramon Lebron, two hitless innings from Richard Zumaya in his Whitecaps debut, and three pressure-packed, hitless frames from Nathan Newman.

The performance was the second consecutive three-hit shutout by West Michigan against Lake County.

Guilmet (0-1) suffered the loss for the Captains, allowing one run on three hits in 1.2 innings.

Before reaching extra frames, both teams were denied scoring opportunities on well-defended plays at the plate.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Whitecaps' Luis Sanz tried to score from second base on a two-out single by Jamie Johnson. Left-fielder Bo Greenwell fired a bullet to the plate, and catcher Chun Chen withstood a vicious collision and held onto the ball to retire Sanz and end the inning.

In the top of the eighth Lake County mounted a threat. Casey Frawley was at third when Chen drove a one-out fly ball towards right field, but Alexis Espinoza was able to make the catch on the run towards the foul line. As Frawley tagged and raced home, Espinoza squared to the plate and fired a strike to the catcher Sanz that preserved the scoreless tie.

The Whitecaps finish the first half of the 2010 season with a road series against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. The opener of the three-game set will be at 8:05 ET on Friday night, with top prospect and all-star RHP Jacob Turner (1-3, 3.72) scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against RHP Wilking Rodriguez (4-4, 3.84) of the Hot Rods. After the all-star break the ‘Caps will return to Fifth Third Ballpark on Friday, June 25, kicking off the second half with a Tigers Friday featuring appearances and autographs from former Detroit Tigers Juan Berenguer and Ozzie Virgil, as well as a t-shirt giveaway for the first 1,000 fans through the gates.

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Midwest League Stories from June 17, 2010


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