Whitecaps whitewash Lugnuts, 9-0

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. – William Simoneit singled and doubled, Drew Millas added a pair of hits of his own, and the Lansing Lugnuts (16-19) lost 9-0 to the West Michigan Whitecaps (19-15) on Saturday night at LMCU Ballpark.

Lugnuts starter Colin Peluse blanked West Michigan for the first four innings, but the Whitecaps rose up in the fifth to score five runs on five hits and a walk, capped by a Bryant Packard two-out, two-run single that ended Peluse’s night.

Top prospect Spencer Torkelson, who supplied an RBI double in the fifth, followed with a two-run double in a three-run sixth against reliever Shohei Tomioka, turning the game into a rout.

Wenceel Pérez closed out the scoring with a solo home run leading off the eighth against Brock Whittlesey.

Whitecaps starter Beau Brieske tossed 6 2/3 innings, combining with Sam Kessler and Sandel De La Cruz on a five-hit shutout.

The lone bright spots offensively came from first baseman Simoneit, who broke out of a 1-for-21 slump with a single to left field in the fourth and a double to the center-field wall in the seventh inning against Brieske, and catcher Millas, who singled to left-center and to right-center in his first two plate appearances and is now hitting .385 (15-for-39) in his last ten games.

Right-hander Stevie Emanuels (5.49 ERA) starts the series finale Sunday at 2 p.m. against Whitecaps right-hander Jesus Rodriguez (3.42). A Lugnuts victory would clinch a split of the six-game set.

Lansing returns home next from June 15-20 against the Great Lakes Loons. To purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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