MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

South Bend Wins Rubber Match In West Michigan

Published on May 21, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - In a hard-fought battle between two playoff contenders, the West Michigan Whitecaps lost the rubber match of a three-game series, 3-1, in front of a 6,469 School Day crowd on Wednesday afternoon at Fifth Third Ballpark.

West Michigan (26-20) dropped to 1.5 games behind South Bend (27-18) in the Midwest League's Eastern Division standings. Dayton is also in the mix for a first-half playoff berth, and the Whitecaps will visit the Dragons on Thursday night to open a six-game road trip.

While the first two games of the series were dominated by offense, Wednesday's contest was decided on the mound. For the first time in more than two years the West Michigan pitching staff registered both double-digit strikeouts and walks in a single game but, remarkably, none of the 10 free passes came around to score.

Whitecaps' starting pitcher Kevin Ziomek (3-4) got off to a rough start, allowing a two-run homer to Steve McQuail during a 32-pitch top of the first inning. While he nearly did not make it out of the opening frame, the left-hander out of Vanderbilt bounced back to pitch valiantly the rest of the way and ended up working deep into the seventh inning.

Following the early two-run homer, Ziomek began inducing quick outs and did not allow another hit until the seventh. He was charged with three runs on four hits over 6.2 frames, using eight strikeouts to work around seven walks. Ziomek suffered the loss despite notching his fourth quality start in eight outings this season.

As it turned out, the home run by McQuail was all the Silver Hawks' needed.

A solo homer by Wynton Bernard in the bottom of the sixth represented the Whitecaps' only run. It was part of a 3-for-4 day for Bernard, who finished a triple shy of the cycle. He accounted for half of West Michigan's six hits and both of their extra-base hits.

South Bend's Braden Shipley (3-2) worked six strong innings and earned the win. The Arizona Diamondbacks' first-round selection in 2013 at 15th overall, Shipley allowed one run on five hits over six innings with six strikeouts and two walks. Three of the five hits against him were tallied by Bernard, but Shipley held the rest of the Whitecaps' lineup to just 2-for-19 at the plate.

West Michigan's best chance to tie the score came after Bernard's leadoff homer cut the deficit to 2-1 in the sixth. Javier Betancourt followed with a single and Raph Rhymes drew a walk, giving the 'Caps a pair of baserunners with nobody out. A fielder's choice groundout left runners at the corners with one away, but Tyler Gibson struck out looking and Francisco Contreras grounded out to end the threat.

South Bend added an insurance run to go ahead 3-1 in the top of the seventh and the Whitecaps never threatened again.

The Silver Hawks lined up relievers Tom Jameson, Daniel Gibson and Silvino Bracho to throw a single scoreless inning apiece. Jameson erased a leadoff single with an inning-ending double play in the seventh, Gibson worked around a two-out walk in the eighth, and Bracho (4) struck out the side in the ninth to maintain his 0.00 ERA and earn his fourth save in as many tries.

Willy Adames singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to nine games. He is batting .387 with five extra-base hits during the batting streak, which ties Raph Rhymes (April 11-19) for the longest by a Whitecaps' player this season.

The Whitecaps hit the road for a six-game trip that begins on Thursday night with a 7:00 p.m. game against the Dayton Dragons at Fifth Third Field in Ohio. RHP Chad Green (0-1, 3.54) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against RHP Daniel Wright (2-2, 2.15) of Dayton. The next home game at Fifth Third Ballpark will be on Wednesday, May 28, at 6:35 p.m. featuring half-price box and reserved seats for fans 50 and over on an SA Advisory Group Silver Slugger Night. Season, group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps' front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.

Check out the West Michigan Whitecaps Statistics

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