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MWL Lake County Captains

Wilkinson Anchors 3-1 Captains' Victory with First High-A Quality Start

August 3, 2024 - Midwest League (MWL)
Lake County Captains News Release


EASTLAKE, OH - LHP Matt Wilkinson (3-3) recorded his first High-A quality start to propel the Lake County Captains (60-39, 19-14) to a 3-2 victory over the Beloit Sky Carp (46-51, 16-18) on Friday at Classic Auto Group Park.

Wilkinson, MLB Pipeline's No. 30 Cleveland prospect, pitched six shutout innings, allowing two hits while striking out seven and walking one in 89 pitches (55 strikes). He did not allow a hit until Sky Carp SS Wilfredo Lara singled with two outs in the top of the fifth, retiring 18 of 21 total batters faced.

The Captains struck first in the bottom of the second when LF Esteban González ripped an RBI double, his 37th extra-base hit between Single-A Lynchburg and Lake County.

In the bottom of the fourth, SS Jose Devers, MLB Pipeline's No. 18 Cleveland prospect, yanked an RBI double, and DH Isaiah Greene plated him on an RBI single to give the Captains a 3-0 lead.

After LHPs Steve Hajjar and Adam Tulloch pitched scoreless seventh and eighth innings of relief, LHP Shawn Rapp earned his first save of the season, which was first since July 18, 2023 at Fort Wayne. Rapp allowed an RBI double to RF Kemp Alderman, MLB Pipeline's No. 16 Miami prospect, before retiring his final two batters faced to secure the victory.

First pitch for the fifth game of this week's scheduled six-game series between the Captains and Sky Carp is scheduled for Saturday night at 7 p.m. Lake County will host the Captains Beer Fest, featuring the Mascot Olympics, at the ballpark.

The contest will be broadcast on the Bally Live app and MiLB.TV, with social media coverage courtesy of @LCCaptains on X and Instagram.

Notes To Know

- OF Jonah Advincula stole two bases, helping Lake County set a new single-season franchise record with 168 stolen bases. The previous record was 166 stolen bases by the 2009 Captains.

- Lake County threw four left-handed pitchers for the first time since May 11, 2019. LHPs Raymond Burgos, Zach Draper, Kellen Rholl, and Skylar Arias all pitched in the 4-2 loss to Wisconsin (then-Single-A, Milwaukee).

- LHP Matt Wilkinson has struck out 40.7% of his 361 batters faced in Minor League Baseball between ACL Guardians, Single-A Lynchburg and Lake County. The Ladner, British Columbia native leads MiLB with 144 strikeouts and ranks second with a 1.96 ERA this season.

- Wilkinson tied his Minor League career-high of six innings pitched on Friday night. He also pitched six frames for Single-A Lynchburg on April 25 versus Myrtle Beach (Single-A, Chicago - NL), when he threw a Minor League career-high 15 strikeouts in six scoreless, hitless innings of work.

The Lake County Captains are the High-A Affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians, and have been a Class A Affiliate of Cleveland since the team was founded in 2003. To find out more information about the Captains or purchase tickets, visit CaptainsBaseball.com, or call (440) 975-8085.


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