Thomas homers, steals a homer in 11-6 loss
LANSING, Mich. – Right fielder Colby Thomas smashed a first-inning three-run homer and made a leaping catch at the wall to take away a potential eighth-inning Nathan Martorella three-run homer, but the Lansing Locos (17-25, 48-59) fell, 11-6, to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (23-19, 55-53) in front of 5,448 on
LANSING, Mich. – Right fielder Colby Thomas smashed a first-inning three-run homer and made a leaping catch at the wall to take away a potential eighth-inning Nathan Martorella three-run homer, but the Lansing Locos (17-25, 48-59) fell, 11-6, to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (23-19, 55-53) in front of 5,448 on Sunday afternoon at Jackson® Field™.
Lansing and Fort Wayne split the six-game series, the first leg of Lansing’s 13-day, 12-game homestand.
It took a moment for Thomas, Oakland’s third-round selection in 2022 from Mercer, to receive confirmation of a home run in the first inning. His drive off a Tyler Morgan offering with Daniel Susac and Brennan Milone aboard was originally ruled off the top of the wall in left-center rather than off the railing above the wall. But after a conference between umpires Jack Wason and Trevor Patience, the crew overturned the initial ruling, giving Thomas his fifth home run in High-A and Lansing a 3-0 lead.
But Fort Wayne responded with six runs on seven hits in the third inning against Locos starter Jake Garland en route to 10 unanswered runs between the third and the sixth, taking command of the game.
... and in the 8th inning, he robs Nathan Martorella of a home run! pic.twitter.com/DRr80QtZUY
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) August 13, 2023
The TinCaps thought they had even more when Martorella launched a Kumar Nambiar delivery to deep right in the eighth, but Thomas went back to the wall, jumped and snagged it to deny the Fort Wayne slugger. In the end, the TinCaps settled for one tally, a Graham Pauley RBI single off Jack Owen.
Lansing wrapped up the scoring in the bottom of the ninth with a T.J. Schofield-Sam solo home run and a Jacob Wilson RBI single, though Clark Elliott was thrown out at the plate on the play attempting to score a second run, ending the game.
Wilson finished the game with three singles in five at-bats to lead the Lansing offense.
After a day off on Monday, the Lansing Lugnuts welcome the Great Lakes Loons to town on a Tacos and Tallboys Tuesday featuring $4 tacos and $4 tallboys. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. with the gates opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are available at the stadium box office, via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500.
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