Marathon Sunday Ends in Split
LANSING, MI — Beginning with a rain delay that spanned nearly four hours, the West Michigan Whitecaps settled for a split of their six-game series and doubleheader with the Lansing Lugnuts with a 6-1 win in the opener, followed by a 2-1 loss in the nightcap in front of a
LANSING, MI — Beginning with a rain delay that spanned nearly four hours, the West Michigan Whitecaps settled for a split of their six-game series and doubleheader with the Lansing Lugnuts with a 6-1 win in the opener, followed by a 2-1 loss in the nightcap in front of a paid attendance of 4,335 fans at Jackson Field.
The rain delay marked the longest wait for the Whitecaps this season, officially listed at three hours and 58 minutes before play commenced just after 5 pm local time. With the split, the ‘Caps now sit 2.5 games behind the Dayton Dragons for first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division with 18 games remaining.
In the opener, the Lugnuts took the lead on an RBI-single by Sahid Valenzuela, but the ‘Caps controlled the remainder of the contest. A pair of run-scoring doubles from Izaac Pacheco and Luke Gold gave West Michigan a 2-1 lead before the ‘Caps added single runs in the next two innings. Max Anderson collected an RBI-double before Seth Stephenson delivered one of his three singles of the contest to extend the Whitecaps lead to 4-1. In the seventh, Thayron Liranzo and Roberto Campos brought home insurance runs with run-scoring singles to close the scoring and seal, at worst a series split for the ‘Caps in Lansing.
In the nightcap, the ‘Caps struck first when Stephenson singled, stole second base, and scored on a single by Max Anderson to help take a 1-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, Ryan Lasko’s run-scoring double promptly knotted the contest at one, and the game remained that way until the seventh and final inning of regulation when Johnny Butler roped a walk-off RBI double off Carlos Marcano to end a near nine-hour afternoon at Jackson Field.
The Whitecaps record stands at 27-20 in the second half and 58-55 overall, while the Lugnuts go to 22-26 in the second half and 54-59 on the year. Pitchers collecting victories were former Detroit Tigers pitcher Mason Englert (1-0), who tossed three shutout innings as part of a Minor League Rehab Assignment with the ‘Caps, and Lugnuts righty Grant Junkins (3-5), who held West Michigan scoreless in three frames out of the bullpen. ‘Caps Reliever Yosber Sanchez tossed two scoreless innings in the opener to earn his second save. Anderson and Stephenson tallied four hits through the two games of the doubleheader to lead West Michigan, while Thayron Liranzo reached safely in five of his seven plate appearances with three hits and two walks while reaching base in 20 of his 26 chances for the series.
UP NEXT
After the doubleheader, the Whitecaps head home for a six-game series against the Lake County Captains beginning Tuesday at 6:35 pm. Pitcher Joe Adametz gets the start for the Whitecaps. 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.