Lugnuts wait out rain, defend diamond

LANSING, Mich. – Brennan Milone, T.J. Schofield-Sam and Colby Thomas homered in the first three innings, and the Lansing Lugnuts (16-24, 47-58) waited out an 81-minute rain delay in the middle of the fifth to beat the Fort Wayne TinCaps (22-18, 54-52), 7-3, in front of a Friday crowd of 6,875 on Defenders of the Diamond Night at Jackson® Field™.

The Lugnuts had dropped the first two games in the series against the East Division leaders, but responded with a 7-3 victory on Thursday behind an Euribiel Ángeles grand slam. Friday featured even more power.

TinCaps southpaw Austin Krob had not allowed a home run in his first six Midwest League starts, but served up a two-out single to Daniel Susac in the first inning followed a drive to dead center by second baseman Milone, launching the Lugnuts into a 2-0 lead. It was Milone’s sixth home run in High-A and his 16th roundtripper overall of the season.

An inning later, designated hitter Schofield-Sam picked up his second High-A home run and fifth of the year, lifting a Krob pitch out to right for a 3-0 lead.

And in the third inning, right fielder Thomas capped a four-run rally with a three-run opposite-field shot to right, giving the Lugnuts a 7-1 lead. It was Thomas’s fourth home run with Lansing and his 12th homer overall in his first pro season.

Lugnuts starter Brady Basso limited Fort Wayne to one run – a third-inning run-scoring wild pitch – on four hits in four innings, walking none while whiffing two.

Jacob Watters ran into trouble as the rain poured down in the fifth, allowing a Jakob Marsee RBI single before departing with two outs and two TinCaps in scoring position. Brock Whittlesey retired the reigning Midwest League Player of the Week, Graham Pauley, on a popout to third, and the umpiring crew called for the tarp.

An hour and 21 minutes later, the game resumed… and sprinted to a conclusion a mere 49 minutes later. Whittlesey pitched 2 1/3 innings in all, striking out three while allowing a Jarryd Dale seventh-inning homer, and Mac Lardner tossed the final two innings in perfect fashion to wrap up the win.

The Lugnuts now enter a full Copa de la Diversión weekend with a Sugar Skull Lansing Locos Bobblehead giveaway both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday, the fifth game of the six-game series, will feature LAFCU Fireworks following the 7:05 p.m. game. Gates open at 6 p.m. for a starting matchup of Lansing right-hander Joelvis Del Rosario (5.21 ERA) vs. Fort Wayne lefty Miguel Cienfuegos (2.88). Tickets are available at the stadium box office, via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500 during office hours.

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