Whitecaps Take Five of Six in Fort Wayne
August 4, 2024 - Midwest League (MWL)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
FORT WAYNE, IN - The West Michigan Whitecaps rallied from a two-run deficit in the final three innings to finish an impressive road trip with a 5-2 victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps in front of 7,573 fans at Parkview Field on Sunday.
Trailing 2-0 in the seventh inning, the 'Caps pulled off a come-from-behind win for the third time in their six-game series in Fort Wayne, collecting a win for every day they played a ballgame at Parkview Field throughout the week. A go-ahead bloop-double by Patrick Lee in the eighth served as the deciding blow as West Michigan moved five games over the .500 mark in the second half and a half-game out of first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division with their fifth win in six games over the TinCaps.
Sunday's contest opened almost instantly with a TinCaps lead, as Romeo Sanabria clobbered a run-scoring double to score Anthony Vilar and give Fort Wayne a 1-0 advantage. In the fifth, the TinCaps Joshua Mears lasered a solo home run, logged at nearly 119 mph, to help the Tincaps jump ahead, 2-0. In the seventh, catcher Josh Crouch lofted a soft liner into left field, scoring a pair of runs to set the stage for a go-ahead RBI-double from Patrick Lee an inning later and two more insurance runs in the ninth to conclude the scoring.
The Whitecaps record improves to 20-15 in the second half and 51-50 on the season, while the TinCaps fall to 12-24 in the second half and 41-62 overall. 'Caps reliever Yosber Sanchez (3-2) tossed two scoreless innings in getting his third win of the season, while Fort Wayne lefty Jackson Smeltz (2-3) gave up the go-ahead run in the eighth in taking his third loss. Max Alba tossed the final two innings to pick up his fourth save. The bottom three hitters of the Whitecaps lineup (Lee, Crouch, and outfielder Seth Stephenson) carried the weight for the offense on Sunday, tallying five of West Michigan's nine base hits in the victory. In the field, outfielder and Detroit Tigers top prospect Max Clark made a highlight reel catch to rob fellow Top-10 MLB Prospect Ethan Salas of extra bases at the wall in left-center field in the fourth inning.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps come home for a six-game series at LMCU Ballpark against the Miami Marlins-affiliated Beloit Sky Carp beginning Tuesday at 6:35 pm. Lefty Joe Adametz is scheduled to take the mound for West Michigan. Tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20 pm on 106.1 FM ' The Ticket ' and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids to catch all the action. Don't miss out on the excitement; get your tickets for all 2024 home contests, or listen to the games live at whitecapsbaseball.com.
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