Lugnuts start early, finish off Captains

LANSING, Mich. - With first pitch moved up two hours to avoid inclement weather forecasted for later in the evening, the Lansing Lugnuts (7-4) used a quick start and a huge game from Kacy Clemens to top the Lake County Captains (5-6), 7-2, on Wednesday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

The game was played through intermittent hail, but the Lugnuts appeared unbothered, jumping on Lake County starter Juan Hillman (Loss, 0-2) for four runs in the first inning and increasing the lead to 6-0 on a Clemens two-run single in the second.

Clemens finished 2-for-2 with two walks, a steal, and an RBI triple in the fifth inning, raising his batting average to .333 and his on-base percentage to .556. The son of pitching great Roger Clemens leads the Midwest League with 15 walks.

Lansing right-hander Donnie Sellers (Win, 2-0) worked five innings in his first start of the year, allowing only two hits and two runs - both in the fourth inning.

18-year-old Maximo Castillo (Save, 1) fired the final four frames scorelessly, scattering three hits and a walk and striking out three.

The Lugnuts stole five bases in the game, two by leadoff hitter Samad Taylor . Both Taylor and Ryan Noda scored a pair of runs. Brock Lundquist added a two-run double. Taylor extend his consecutive on-base streak to eight games; Noda increased his own streak to nine games; and both Clemens and Kevin Smith reached base for the tenth straight game.

The homestand finale is a Labatt Thirsty Thursday set for a 7:05 p.m. start with $2 beers/sodas, half off craft brews, a Salute to Super Troopers, and featuring a LugLife Bro-Tank Giveaway to the first 1,000 fans. Right-hander Yennsy Diaz (0.77) starts against Lake County southpaw Francisco Perez (3.60). For more information, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
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