Lake County Held to Three Hits as Chiefs Snap Captains’ Six-Game Winning Streak

EASTLAKE, Ohio – In Game 2 of a doubleheader, the Lake County Captains (23-22, 54-56) fell to the Peoria Chiefs (26-21, 59-54) by a final score of 4-1 in 7 innings on Saturday night at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake.

This defeat snaps Lake County’s six-game losing streak, and marks their 8^th doubleheader split of the season.

As a team, the Captains were held to just three hits in the contest. Lake County did not record a hit until the bottom of the 2^nd inning, when Joe Lampe hit a leadoff single. One inning later, Chase DeLauter, Cleveland’s No. 4 and MLB’s No. 90 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, hit an infield single. This extended DeLauter’s hitting streak to 11 games.

Then, in the bottom of the 4^th inning, Yordys Valdes recorded the Captains’ final hit of the game. The 22-year-old hit a two-out solo home run, his 3^rd home run of the season, to cut Lake County’s deficit to 4-1. 10 of the final 11 Captains hitters were retired to end the game, with Will Bartlett being Lake County’s only baserunner in this span by drawing a walk.

Reid Johnston entered the game in relief to begin the 5^th inning. The right-hander pitched 3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and one walk, while throwing 7 strikeouts in 49 pitches (32 strikes). The 24-year-old began his outing with 3 consecutive strikeouts, the last of which resulted in a wild pitch that allowed Peoria’s Osvaldo Tovalin to reach base.

After surrendering a hit-by-pitch in the ensuing plate appearance, Johnston threw his 4^th strikeout to end the top of the 5^th inning. This marked Lake County’s first 4-strikeout inning from a pitcher since August 25^th, 2019, when Eli Lingos accomplished this feat in the bottom of the 5^th inning against the Dayton Dragons.

In his second start since being activated from the 7-day injured list on August 8^th, Ryan Webb (2-4) suffered his first loss since June 9^th at Great Lakes. The left-hander pitched 4 innings, allowing 7 hits, 4 earned runs, and one walk, while throwing 3 strikeouts in 61 pitches (42 strikes). Webb allowed a solo home run to begin the 4^th inning, his first home run allowed since June 9^th at Great Lakes.

First pitch for tomorrow’s series finale between the Captains and Chiefs is scheduled for 1:00 PM. It will be “Cleveland Crunch Day” at the ballpark, with a pre-game youth soccer parade and player autographs on the concourse. The “Mascot Olympics” will also take place during the game. Coverage of the game can be found on both the Bally Live app and MiLB.tv, as well as through @LCCaptains on both X and Instagram.