Whitecaps Shut Out In Lansing
April 16, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
LANSING, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps mustered just three hits on Tuesday night, suffering their first shutout loss of the season by a 4-0 score against the Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium.
West Michigan (5-6) has featured an all-or-nothing offense early in the season, scoring three runs or less in all six of their losses and six runs or more in all five of their wins. Lansing (4-6) was led by starting pitcher Javier Avendano, who fired off six scoreless innings while leading a trio of hurlers in a three-hit shutout.
Avendano (1-1) set the tone early, retiring the first nine batters that he faced before allowing a leadoff double to Danry Vasquez in the fourth inning. That turned out to be the only hit against Avendano, who struck out four and walked two while retiring 18 of the 21 batters that he faced.
Lansing's Wil Browning added a scoreless seventh inning while Tucker Donahue worked the final two frames to complete the shutout.
Meanwhile, Whitecaps' starter Endrys Briceno (0-1) struggled out of the gate.
The West Michigan right-hander plunked Ronnie Melendez on his first pitch of the night. Melendez promptly stole second and took third on an errant pickoff throw before scoring on a groundout by Lansing's second batter of the night.
Gustavo Pierre drilled a double with two outs in the third and came around to score on a base hit by Christian Lopes. The Lugnuts added two more runs in the fourth despite just one hit in the inning, benefitting from a hit batsman, a wild pitch and a costly two-out error to stretch their lead to 4-0.
Briceno was charged with four runs - three earned - on four hits over four innings of work. He struck out two, walked one, hit two batters and was charged with one wild pitch and one error.
The lone bright spot for the 'Caps was a flawless effort from the bullpen.
Brennan Smith took over in the fifth and set down all nine of the batters he faced, punching out three over his three perfect innings. Left-hander Josh Turley added a pair of strikeouts during a 1-2-3 eighth inning, combining with Smith for four perfect frames of relief.
Danry Vasquez, Mike Hernandez and Jake Stewart each had one of the Whitecaps' three hits on the night.
The Whitecaps continue their road trip with the middle game of a three-game series at 7:05 p.m. on Wednesday night against the Lansing Lugnuts at Cooley Law School Stadium. RHP Montreal Robertson (1-0, 1.64) is scheduled to take the hill for West Michigan against RHP Taylor Cole (1-1, 5.19) of the Lugnuts. The Whitecaps' next home game will be on Friday, April 19, at 6:35 p.m. against the South Bend Silver Hawks and will feature $1 popcorn. 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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