Record Crowd in Attendance as Hawks Top Caps

July 3, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


Catcher Roidany Aguila punished the Fort Wayne TinCaps for the intentional walk of left fielder Alex Glenn ahead of him by lacing a two-out, two-run double that gave the Silver Hawks the lead for good as they defeated the TinCaps 4-3 on Wednesday night. In situations with men in scoring position and two outs, Aguila was hitting .040 (1 for 25) on the season with 10 strikeouts before ripping the game-winning double to center field off TinCaps starting pitcher Zach Eflin (4-5) in front of a franchise-record crowd of 7,287 at Coveleski Regional Stadium.

Daniel Watts, who entered the game as the Midwest League leader in wins, got the start for the South Bend Silver Hawks (53-30, 9-5) and was dominant early. He struck out seven of the first ten batters he faced, six of them looking, including striking out the side in both the first and third innings. Meanwhile, the Hawks jumped out in front of the Fort Wayne TinCaps (46-36, 3-10) with a two-run first inning. With one out, center fielder Breland Almadova struck out swinging but reached first base on a passed ball. After third baseman Brandon Drury flew out to center field, designated hitter Rudy Flores launched a 3-2 pitch from Eflin into the crowd on the lawn beyond the left-center field fence for a 2-0 lead.

Watts ran into some trouble in the fourth inning as his control deserted him. Center fielder Mallex Smith led off the inning with a ground ball single up the middle. A wild pitch advanced Smith to second and he came around to score when third baseman Diego Goris lined a single up the middle that cut the lead to 2-1. After Watts got the next two hitters to fly out to right, left fielder Luis Domoromo beat out an infield single to third that put runners at first and second with two outs. Catcher Rodney Daal grounded a base hit up the middle, scoring Goris and tying the game at 2-2. A walk followed to load the bases but Watts got right fielder Brian Adams, to strike out looking to end the inning.

Fort Wayne, the Class-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, took the lead against Watts in the top of the fifth. Shortstop Everth Cabrera, the National League leader in stolen bases who is on a rehab assignment, walked to lead off the inning. After Smith bunted Cabrera to second and Goris moved him to third on a fly ball to right field, designated hitter Chris Burke gave the TinCaps the lead with a single to center field.

South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the National League West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, struck back in the bottom of the sixth against Eflin. With one out, Flores doubled to the left-center field wall. With two outs and Flores still on second, TinCaps manager Jose Valentin made the curious decision to intentionally walk Glenn, putting the go-ahead run on base for Aguila. Aguila ripped a 2-2 pitch off of the center field wall that scored both Flores and Glenn to give the Hawks the 4-3 lead.

The Silver Hawks bullpen shut down the TinCaps over the last four innings, although the TinCaps threatened in both the eighth and ninth innings. After Chris Capper (3-2) pitched a scoreless sixth and Enrique Garcia threw a scoreless seventh, Fort Wayne nearly managed to tie the game in the eighth. Burke led off against Garcia with a double down the right field line. First baseman Luis Tejada singled to center field, but Almadova came up with a great throw to nail Burke on a close play at the plate, drawing an argument from Valentin. Thomas Brendel then came in the game and retired catcher Rodney Daal and second baseman Tyler Stubblefield to escape the eighth inning with the lead.

Enrique Burgos (S, 8) came in to close the game in the ninth. Adams hit a ground ball back to Burgos but he threw wild to first, allowing Adams to go to second. Cabrera completed his appearance in South Bend by striking out for the fourth time in the game. Burgos then got Smith and Goris to ground out to second and short respectively to end the game with the tying run stranded at third.

The Silver Hawks and TinCaps meet up the next two days in Fort Wayne to complete the four game home-and-home series. The Hawks then head to Dayton for a three-game series with the Dayton Dragons, the Class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. The Hawks return to the Cove for a six-game homestand on Wednesday, July 10. First, they take on the Kane County Cougars, the Class-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, for three games before playing three against the Clinton LumberKings, the Class-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.



Midwest League Stories from July 3, 2013


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