Nuts win 7-4 on 7/4 in front of largest crowd in a decade
LANSING, Mich. – With 11,521 roaring – the largest home crowd in Lansing since July 4, 2013 – the Lansing Lugnuts (4-6, 35-40) used home runs from Max Muncy, Caeden Trenkle and an inside-the-park three-run roundtripper from birthday boy Junior Pérez to beat the Lake County Captains (2-8, 33-42), 7-4,
LANSING, Mich. – With 11,521 roaring – the largest home crowd in Lansing since July 4, 2013 – the Lansing Lugnuts (4-6, 35-40) used home runs from Max Muncy, Caeden Trenkle and an inside-the-park three-run roundtripper from birthday boy Junior Pérez to beat the Lake County Captains (2-8, 33-42), 7-4, at Jackson Field, opening a six-game series.
The massive crowd topped all of Single-A, High-A and Double-A and the majority of Triple-A’s largest crowds for the season. Only Triple-A’s Buffalo Bisons, Albuquerque Isotopes, Indianapolis Indians, Norfolk Tides and Round Rock Express have a drawn larger crowd to a game this year in Minor League Baseball.
A powerful, memorable Independence Day.
— Lansing Lugnuts (@LansingLugnuts) July 5, 2023
Power, in this case, courtesy of @Maxmuncy_8, birthday boy @perezjunior_ and @caeden_trenkle 💪 pic.twitter.com/QeCpnXh2uo
Muncy delighted them immediately, narrowly missing a leadoff home run with a drive off the top of the left-center field to open the home first inning. Two batters later, Daniel Susac drove him in with a single, giving the Nuts an immediate 1-0 lead against 2022 second-rounder Parker Messick.
Two innings later, after Lake County tied the score on a Jorge Burgos RBI single, Muncy did not miss. He opened the home third with his sixth homer of the year, belted onto Home Run Hill below the video board, for a 2-1 lead.
Messick then plunked Trenkle, gave up a second single to Susac, coaxed a fielder’s choice from Danny Bautista, Jr. and gave up a drive to deep right-center from new 22-year-old Pérez. Both center fielder Jake Fox and right fielder Burgos raced to the wall, only to see the ball take a wicked carom into deepest center. Pérez jetted around the bases, nearly running up Bautista, Jr.’s heels, to dive across home plate ahead of the throw and put the Lugnuts in front in exhilarating fashion, 6-1. It was his sixth home run of the year and the first Nuts inside-the-park home run since Denzel Clarke on August 3, 2022.
Lake County narrowed the deficit with three runs in the seventh against Mac Lardner, who had fired six scoreless innings as the Lugnuts’ starter on July 4, 2022, vs. Great Lakes.
Trenkle answered with his third home run of the year in the bottom of the seventh, smoked out to right-center to conclude the scoring.
Lardner handled the rest of the action, firing a perfect eighth and working around a pair of singles in the ninth to wrap up a 7-4 Lugnuts win on July 4 for the second consecutive season. Even more coincidentally, Lardner had served as the starter for Lansing on July 4, 2022, a 7-4 victory over Great Lakes.
This game was started by Kumar Nambiar due to concerns of rain in the vicinity. Nambiar tossed two scoreless innings before handing the ball to the scheduled starter, Brady Basso, who notched five strikeouts while allowing one run on two hits and a walk in four innings.
The second game in the series is set for a Dog Days of Summer, with dogs welcome to the ballpark. Gates open at 6 p.m. for a 7:05 p.m. start. Tickets are available via lansinglugnuts.com or by calling (517) 485-4500 during office hours.
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