Bazzana Doubles Twice, Captains Fall to Kernels 5-2

EASTLAKE, OH – In the third game of a scheduled six-game series, the Lake County Captains (29-26, 70-51) fell to the Cedar Rapids Kernels (27-29, 64-57) by a score of 5-2 at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

Lake County’s only scoring of the night came in the bottom of the first inning.

2B Travis Bazzana, MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Cleveland and No. 13 overall prospect, began the half-inning with a leadoff double. Two batters later, 3B Alex Mooney, MLB Pipeline’s No. 24 Cleveland prospect, drove him in with an RBI infield single to tie the game at 1-1. After stealing second base, Mooney eventually scored on a two-out RBI infield single by SS Jose Devers, which gave the Captains a 2-1 advantage.

Bazzana then hit his second double of the night with two outs in the bottom of the second frame, but CF Jake Fox, MLB Pipeline’s No. 27 Cleveland prospect, struck out to end the inning.

Soon after, Cedar Rapids tied the game when CF Kyle Hess began the third inning with a leadoff home run. This was the Kernels’ second solo homer of the game, as DH Walker Jenkins, MLB Pipeline’s No. 1 Minnesota and No. 4 overall prospect, drove in the contest’s first run with a solo shot in the first inning.

Cedar Rapids then plated the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the fourth after a pair of Lake County fielding errors. Kernels 1B Rixon Wingrave hit a fly ball to left field, which was dropped by Captains LF Isaiah Greene. One batter later, Wingrave scored when Fox dropped a fly ball hit by Cedar Rapids RF Agustin Ruiz, who was thrown out at second base to end the half-inning.

Both teams then went scoreless until the top of the eighth inning. Captains RHP Yorman Gómez (1-2) pitched 5.2 innings, allowing three hits, three runs (two earned), and two walks, while throwing five strikeouts in 91 pitches (54 strikes). RHP Zach Jacobs then struck out all four Kernels hitters he faced in relief.

Cedar Rapids added an insurance run in both the eighth and ninth innings.

In the top of the eighth, 3B Kaelen Culpepper, MLB Pipeline’s No. 7 Minnesota prospect, led off the inning by reaching third base on a missed catch error by Lake County 1B Kevin Rivas. Culpepper scored two batters later on an RBI groundout by Kernels 2B Rubel Cespedes, MLB Pipeline’s No. 10 Minnesota prospect. One frame later, SS Nick Lucky tallied an RBI groundout to make it a 5-2 game.

Cedar Rapids RHP Spencer Bengard finally worked four scoreless innings of relief to earn his first professional save.

The fourth game of this week’s scheduled six-game series between the Captains and Kernels is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. It will be The Dude Night at the ballpark, where Lake County will host its final postgame Friday Night Fireworks show of the season.

The game 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

- With a pair of singles on Thursday night, OF Wuilfredo Antunez extended his hitting streak to 12 games across Lake County (nine games) and Single-A Lynchburg (three games). During the streak, he is hitting .444 (20-for-45) with 10 runs, four doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI, a .458 on-base percentage, an .867 slugging percentage, and a 1.325 OPS.

- With a pair of doubles on Thursday night, 2B Travis Bazzana has seven doubles in his first 20 Minor League games, all with Lake County. Since his Minor League debut on July 26, this marks ranks second on the team to INF Angel Genao’s nine.

- With five strikeouts on Thursday night, RHP Yorman Gómez has thrown at least five strikeouts in each of his first three High-A starts. During this span, the 21-year-old has recorded a 3.06 ERA, 17 strikeouts, six walks, and a .194 opposing average.

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.