Simpson drives in six in Lugs' slugfest victory

LANSING**, Mich. –* Midwest League runs batted in leader *Will Simpson** swatted a three-run homer amid a six-RBI performance, and the Lansing Lugnuts (21-25, 53-58) built a seven-run lead, lost it, and recovered to overwhelm the West Michigan Whitecaps (26-19, 57-54), 13-8, in front of 7,851 on Friday night at Jackson® Field™.

The game – which was concluded in two hours and 57 minutes – saw 30 combined hits, with all 18 batters collecting at least one hit.

Simpson blasted his 15th home run of the year in the first inning, T.J. Schofield-Sam knocked a two-run homer in a three-run third inning, and Simpson added a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, as the Lugnuts built a 7-0 lead against West Michigan starter Joe Miller.

The Whitecaps struck back quickly, knocking out Nuts starter Luis Morales with a four-run fifth and following up with a three-run sixth against Garrett Irvin to tie the game at 7-7.

But Danny Bautista, Jr. led off the home sixth inning with a triple against Erick Pinales, and Jonny Butler brought him in with an RBI single to put the Nuts into the lead for good. After a walk to Ryan Lasko, the Nuts executed a double steal during a Jared Dickey strikeout, putting Butler and Lasko in position to score on a single by Simpson, increasing his league-leading RBI total to 79. Nate Nankil capped the rally by singling in Simpson for an 11-7 lead.

After the Whitecaps scored a run in the eighth against Yehizon Sanchez on a Seth Stephenson sac fly, a Dickey RBI triple and a second Nankil RBI single concluded the scoring in the bottom of the eighth.

Nankil finished 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, giving him seven hits in his last nine at-bats and increasing his batting average with Lansing to .379 in 15 games. Leadoff hitter Butler went 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs scored.

The Lugnuts go for a third straight win over the Whitecaps on Saturday, with gates opening at 6 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. start and featuring postgame LAFCU Fireworks! Right-hander Jake Garland takes on West Michigan ace Jaden Hamm in the starting matchup. For tickets and further information, visit milb.com/lansing or call (517) 485-4500.

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