Whitecaps Drop Fastest Game in Franchise History
LANSING, MI – A franchise record-low of 67 minutes of baseball was played on Sunday at Jackson Field as a rain-shortened contest watched the West Michigan Whitecaps drop their series finale in just five innings to the Lansing Lugnuts by a score of 3-1. With a thunderstorm approaching, the Whitecaps
LANSING, MI – A franchise record-low of 67 minutes of baseball was played on Sunday at Jackson Field as a rain-shortened contest watched the West Michigan Whitecaps drop their series finale in just five innings to the Lansing Lugnuts by a score of 3-1.
With a thunderstorm approaching, the Whitecaps and Lugnuts moved quickly through Sunday's five and a half innings of baseball. The game time of one hour and seven minutes marks the fastest official game in Whitecaps history, breaking the previous record of one hour and 19 minutes on May 10, 2003, at Cedar Rapids.
The offense was limited due to time constraints on Sunday, as Lazaro Armenteros blasted his ninth homer of the season to give Lansing a pair of runs in the second. The score remained the same until the fifth, when Trei Cruz brought West Michigan within a run with an RBI-single, but Jace Jung popped out to end the threat in what became the last chance for West Michigan. The bottom of the fifth began just moments before the storm, and Brayan Buelvas blasted a solo home run – his fifth homer of the season – to extend the Lansing lead to 3-1 and conclude the scoring in the ballgame.
Whitecaps starting pitcher Carlos Guzman (6-6) tossed a five-inning complete game but took his sixth loss after giving up all three Lugnuts runs. Lansing lefty Jack Owen (4-1) tossed five innings of one-run baseball to collect his fourth win of the year. The Whitecaps currently hold a 4.5-game lead over the Great Lakes Loons and Lake County Captains for first place in the Midwest League East second-half standings. The Whitecaps leave Lansing with a record of 56-46 and 25-11 in the second half. The Lugnuts improve to 39-63 and 14-22. The Whitecaps have not lost any of the seven series they've played in the second half.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps begin a new six-game series away from home against the Beloit Sky Carp in West Michigan's first-ever trip to ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit beginning Tuesday at 7:35 pm. Starting pitchers for the contest are still to be determined. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 7:20 pm. Get your tickets for all 2022 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.