LANSING, Mich. - Dwanya Williams-Sutton and Luis Almanzar homered, and the Fort Wayne TinCaps (2-1) spoiled the Lansing Lugnuts' (1-2) home opener, 8-4, on Saturday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.Hagen Danner homered in the loss, the Lugnuts' first home run of the season.
LANSING, Mich. - Dwanya Williams-Sutton and Luis Almanzar homered, and the Fort Wayne TinCaps (2-1) spoiled the Lansing Lugnuts' (1-2) home opener, 8-4, on Saturday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.
Hagen Danner homered in the loss, the Lugnuts' first home run of the season.
Williams-Sutton struck first, giving the TinCaps an early 1-0 lead with a solo home run in the second. Three innings later, it was Almanzar's turn to strike the game's most significant blow, a three-run homer to build the TinCaps' lead to 6-2 and, as it turned out, put the game out of reach.
Lansing starter Juan De Paula (Loss, 0-1), acquired earlier in the week from San Francisco for former Lugnut Kevin Pillar, allowed three runs on five hits and three walks in 3 1/3 innings, striking out one.
Reliever Josh Hiatt , victimized by Almanzar's home run, worked 3 2/3 innings and gave up five runs - two earned - on five hits and one walk, with two strikeouts.
Jackson Rees pitched the final two frames scorelessly, striking out three TinCaps in a row to strand runners at second and third in the ninth.
Fort Wayne starter Joey Cantillo whiffed eight in 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision. The win was credited by the official scorer to reliever Henry Henry (Win, 1-0), who walked one but faced the minimum in the seventh and eighth innings.
In the loss, left fielder Mc Gregory Contreras went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and second baseman Otto Lopez reached base three times on two singles and a walk, stole two bases, scored a run and drove in a run.
Lansing manager Dallas McPherson was ejected for the first time this season for arguing balls and strikes in the sixth.
The finale of the four-game home-and-home series will be held on Sunday at 1:05 p.m., a Delta Dental Kids Day featuring Play Catch on the Field before the game and Kids Run the Bases after the game. Right-hander Sean Wymer , the Blue Jays' fourth-round draft pick in 2018, will make his Lugnuts debut.
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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