‘Caps Walk Off Lansing in 11, 5-4
COMSTOCK PARK, MI — The West Michigan Whitecaps trailed 4-1 going into the ninth inning before mounting a four-run rally as Luke Gold delivered a walk-off single in the 11th, earning the 5-4 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 4,443 fans Tuesday night at LMCU Ballpark. The ‘Caps
COMSTOCK PARK, MI — The West Michigan Whitecaps trailed 4-1 going into the ninth inning before mounting a four-run rally as Luke Gold delivered a walk-off single in the 11th, earning the 5-4 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 4,443 fans Tuesday night at LMCU Ballpark.
The ‘Caps were held to just five hits going into the ninth when Johnny Peck, Roberto Campos, Luke Gold, and Jim Jarvis combined four consecutive singles before Dom Johnson tied the game on a sacrifice fly – opening the door for Gold’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the 11th inning.
Lansing grabbed the lead in the top of the second inning as shortstop Joshua Kuroda-Grauer delivered an RBI double, putting Lansing in front 1-0. The Lugs extended their lead in the sixth with a two-run single from first baseman Danny Bautista Jr. before Whitecaps second baseman and reigning Midwest League Player of the Week, Max Anderson, chipped away with an RBI single in the bottom half, trimming the Lugnuts advantage to 3-1. Lansing added an insurance tally in the ninth on a solo home run from outfielder Jonny Butler before back-to-back RBI singles by Gold and Jarvis preceded a sacrifice fly by Johnson – sending the game into extra innings tied at four.
Neither team budged in the tenth, as Lugnuts reliever Blaze Pontes and Whitecaps reliever CJ Weins posted scoreless frames. In the 11th, ‘Caps reliever Marco Jimenez silenced Lansing, stranding the go-ahead run on third base before Gold added the game-winning RBI single in the ensuing half, sending West Michigan to the 5-4 victory.
The Whitecaps improve to 33-27 in the second half and 64-62 overall, while the Lugnuts fall to 26-35 in the second half and 58-68 on the season. Jimenez (6-1) collects his sixth win of the season while Pontes (3-9) suffers his ninth loss. The Whitecaps 5-4 walk-off win matches the longest game of the season - with their last 11-inning game also resulting in a one-run win (6-5) over the Fort Wayne TinCaps back on July 31. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps secure their third win when trailing past the eighth inning this year, coming into the contest just 2-50 in 2024.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this season-ending six-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts from LMCU Ballpark on Wednesday at 6:35 pm. Righty Jaden Hamm takes the mound to make his final start for the ‘Caps in 2024 against Grant Junkins for Lansing. Tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler on the Whitecaps Baseball Network beginning at 6:20 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids to catch all the action. Don’t miss out on the excitement; get tickets for all remaining 2024 home contests, or listen to the games live at whitecapsbaseball.com.