MWL1 West Michigan Whitecaps

Whitecaps Can't Close Out Frank, Lugnuts

Published on June 26, 2014 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release


LANSING, MI - In a game featuring multiple late lead changes, the West Michigan Whitecaps could not close out Chaz Frank and the Lansing Lugnuts in a wild 7-6 loss on Thursday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

In the rubber match of a three-game series, West Michigan (3-4, 44-33) and Lansing (4-3, 36-40) were tied at 4-4 before three late lead changes culminated in a walk-off finish. Frank played the role of hero for the Lugnuts, making the key defensive play of the game in the fourth inning and going 3-for-5 at the plate with the biggest hit of the night in the bottom of the ninth.

The Whitecaps built an early 4-1 lead and were on the verge of blowing the game open in the top of the fourth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, Raph Rhymes clubbed a deep fly ball to left-center field - but Frank ran it down on the warning track to keep the Lugnuts in the game.

Lansing went on to tie the score with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. The home team eventually took the lead with an unearned run in the seventh inning after Frank singled home David Harris for a 5-4 advantage.

But West Michigan was also able to come up with some big hits. In the top of the eighth, Willy Adames battled back from an 0-2 count to draw a one-out walk. Francisco Contreras capped his 3-for-4 night with a single and the runners advanced to second and third on a groundout. Wynton Bernard followed with a clutch two-out, two-run single that staked the Whitecaps to a 6-5 lead.

Reliever Zac Reininger came into the game in search of the final six outs and retired the first five batters he faced without incident. But, with a one-run lead and two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Harris extended the ballgame with a liner to center that rattled in and out of the glove of a diving Austin Schotts.

That brought up Frank, who worked the count full as Lansing went down to their final strike. The feisty leadoff man blasted Reininger's pay-off pitch to deep right-center field. Schotts ranged all the way to the warning track in the deepest part of the ballpark, but the ball glanced off the tip of his glove and dropped in for a game-tying triple.

Moments later, Frank raced home on a wild pitch as the Lugnuts celebrated the stunning 7-6 walk-off win.

Reininger (1-1) was charged the blown save and the loss after allowing two runs in 1.2 innings. The outing marked the first run scored against him in exactly one month and snapped a 14.1-inning scoreless streak. Phil Kish (5-3) earned the win despite also being charged with a blown save. The right-handed reliever gave up two runs in two innings and was on the hook for the loss before the late turn of events.

The Whitecaps' early 4-1 lead was built in part thanks to recent draftee Grayson Greiner, who was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run. In the second inning, he drilled his first professional homer in just his fifth pro game since being taken in the third round of the 2014 draft by the Detroit Tigers.

The Whitecaps return to Fifth Third Ballpark on Friday night to start a seven-game homestand with a 7:00 p.m. first pitch against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. RHP Jonathon Crawford (3-2, 2.80) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against LHP Bruedlin Suero (N/A) of Bowling Green. It will be a Tiger Friday featuring former All-Star Glenn Wilson with a pre-game Living Baseball Card giveaway. Season, 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 June 26, 2014


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