Kirk and Pruitt homer, but Nuts come up short

LANSING, Mich. - Alejandro Kirk and Reggie Pruitt slugged their first home runs of the year, but a five-run deficit proved too much to overcome in a Lansing Lugnuts (3-3) 7-6 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps (3-3) on Tuesday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The Whitecaps built an early 7-2 lead, scoring a run in the second inning off Lansing starter Josh Winckowski , who lasted only two innings, and then plating two on a Jordan Pearce homer in the third and four more runs in the fourth off reliever Joey Pulido (Loss, 0-1).

And then they hung on tight.

Kirk's opposite-field blast in the fifth inning trimmed the Whitecaps' edge to 7-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Pruitt - who had already knocked an RBI double back in the second inning - crushed a two-run shot to left field. Six batters later, Johnny Aiello drew a bases-loaded walk to pull the Lugnuts within a run.

West Michigan reliever Angel Reyes emerged from the bullpen and ended the threat by inducing a groundout to third from Nick Podkul , then set the Lugnuts down in order in the seventh and the eighth innings.

In the bottom of the ninth, Podkul drew a two-out walk and Dom Abbadessa singled to put the tying and winning runs aboard, but Yaya Chentouf (Save, 1) retired
Pruitt on a groundout to short to end the game.

Pruitt finished the game 2-for-6 with three RBIs. Kirk added two hits and two walks in five plate appearances, shortstop Jordan Groshans singled twice and scored two runs in five at-bats and first baseman Jake Brodt supplied an RBI single and two walks.

The Lugnuts also received outside back-end relief, with Will McAffer and Connor Law combining to pitch the final five innings scorelessly, striking out 11 Whitecaps in the process.

Whitecaps starter Kacey Murphy lasted only 2 2/3 innings, serving up five hits, three walks and two runs, before departing in favor of Angel De Jesus (Win, 1-0), who gave up one run in 2 1/3 innings to earn the victory.

The result was a study in contrasts from the Lugnuts' 1-0 win in the series opener the previous night: one hour and 54 minutes to finish Monday's game, three hours and 37 minutes to play this game. There were 12 total base runners (11 hits, one walk, one by error on Monday, compared to 41 base runners (23 hits, 15 walks, two by error, one hit by error) on Tuesday, with the two teams combining to leave 25 runners on base.

And, lastly, Monday's opener saw a total of 197 pitches. On Tuesday, five Whitecaps pitchers threw 178 pitches while four Lugnuts pitchers threw 185 pitches.

The third game of the four-game series will be held on a Dog Days of Summer, with gates opening at 5:00 p.m. for all fans and dogs alike. Right-hander Joey Murray (0.00 ERA) starts opposite West Michigan left-hander Adam Wolf (9.00) at 6:05 p.m.

To purchase tickets and live the Lug Life at Cooley Law School Stadium, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
 
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