Miller Time Comes in July; Caps 7, Lugnuts 1
COMSTOCK PARK, MI —West Michigan Whitecaps starting pitcher Joe Miller continued his dominant stretch in July as the offense came alive in a 7-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of a sellout crowd of 8,686 fans Saturday night at LMCU Ballpark. All but one 'Caps hitter reached base,
COMSTOCK PARK, MI —West Michigan Whitecaps starting pitcher Joe Miller continued his dominant stretch in July as the offense came alive in a 7-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of a sellout crowd of 8,686 fans Saturday night at LMCU Ballpark.
All but one 'Caps hitter reached base, as Max Anderson, Bennett Lee, and Seth Stephenson all added two-run base hits. Meanwhile, Miller has gone 19 innings without allowing a run, tossing five scoreless frames while adding a pair of strikeouts. 'Caps pitchers held Lansing to an 0-for-2 mark with runners in scoring position in the winning effort.
The Whitecaps grabbed the lead in the fourth inning as outfielder Roberto Campos lifted a sacrifice fly into left field – scoring Eddys Leonard from third and jumping in front 1-0. The Whitecaps then sprinkled four runs across the fifth and sixth innings as Anderson added a two-run double before Stephenson scored Campos and Luke Gold on a two-run single in the sixth – expanding the lead to 5-0. The Lugs added their lone run in the eighth as outfielder Cameron Masterman smashed an RBI double into left field, but it was short-lived, as the Whitecaps added two insurance tallies in the bottom half with a two-run double by Lee, 7-1. West Michigan closer Tanner Kohlhepp made quick work of the Lugnuts in the ninth, retiring the side including a pair of strikeouts to put the finishing touches on a 7-1 Whitecaps winner.
The Whitecaps improve to 14-14 in the second half and 45-49 overall, while the Lugnuts fall to 14-15 and 46-48 overall. Miller (2-2) collects his second win while Lansing starting pitcher Will Johnston (4-4) suffers his fourth loss, giving up three runs (one earned) through five innings pitched. Miller becomes just the eighth starting pitcher to record a win this season. Meanwhile, Tigers No. 1 prospect Max Clark finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and a double and is now 7-for-18 with a double, triple, and four RBIs to begin his Whitecaps career.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps conclude this six-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts from LMCU Ballpark Sunday at 2:00 pm. Austin Bergner gets a minor league rehab start against the Lugnuts Blaze Pontes. Tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 1:45 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 your tickets for all 2024 home contests, or listen to the games live at whitecapsbaseball.com.