Whitecaps Knocked Out By Nine Unanswered Runs
Published on July 16, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
GENEVA, IL - The West Michigan Whitecaps had high hopes heading into the rubber match of a three-game series against the Kane County Cougars on Monday night, but surrendered nine unanswered runs in a two-inning span during a 9-5 loss at Fifth Third Bank Ballpark in Geneva, Illinois.
West Michigan (12-12, 48-46) lost the three-game series against Kane County (14-10, 48-46) but still finished the road trip at 3-3. The 'Caps are 8-10 against the Western Division and will wrap up their interdivisional schedule for the season with a six-game homestand against Peoria and Burlington starting on Wednesday night.
Eugenio Suarez was one of the lone bright spots for the Whitecaps, going 3-for-4 with two RBI. His run-scoring single in the third gave West Michigan a 1-0 lead, but the Cougars quickly seized control in the bottom half of the inning.
After facing the minimum through his first two frames, Whitecaps' starter Marcelo Carreno never made it out of the third inning.
Tim Ferguson led off the frame with a long solo homer down the left field line that tied the score. Following a double and a walk, Alex Llanos delivered a sacrifice fly that put Kane County in front. Carreno had two outs and was nearly out of the inning before allowing a run-scoring single to Julio Aparicio. The last straw came in the form of Michael Antonio's two-run double, which chased Carreno from the game.
Reliever Melvin Mercedes replaced him but did not fare much better, giving up two straight hits. The second was an RBI-single by Ferguson - his second run-scoring hit of the inning - as the Cougars took a 6-1 lead.
Kane County delivered the knockout punch in the fourth. With runners at the corners and one out, Danny Mateo lined a seemingly routine single into center field. But the ball bounced past Chad Wright, enabling all three Cougars to circle the bases as the score suddenly ballooned to 9-1.
West Michigan spent the rest of the night playing catch-up, plating two runs in both the sixth and seventh innings to pull within 9-5. Their seventh-inning rally appeared headed for even greater results when Jason Krizan ripped a two-out hit to the right side that would have scored another run to cut the deficit to three - but baserunner Jeff McVaney could not get out of the way of the hard-hit baseball. The baserunner interference led to the third out of the inning and ended the rally.
Aaron Brooks (7-9) earned the win for Kane County, allowing three runs on six hits over six innings and benefitting from a big offensive night of support.
Carreno (4-7) suffered the loss, allowing six runs on five hits over 2.2 frames. All of those runs and hits came during the bottom of the third inning.
The Whitecaps return to Fifth Third Ballpark on Wednesday night to open a six-game homestand at 7:00 p.m. against the Peoria Chiefs. RHP Jeff Ferrell (3-3, 4.70) is scheduled to take the hill for West Michigan against RHP Jose Rosario (6-8, 4.07) of Peoria. The ballgame will feature a fundraiser for the Ronald McDonald House, entertainment from Christopher with Puppets, and post-game fireworks. 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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