Whitecaps Fall to ‘Nuts, 8-1
LANSING, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps felt the wrath of the top-hitting team in the Midwest League as part of an 8-1 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 3,166 fans at Jackson Field on Wednesday. The Lugnuts, who entered the contest with a league-best .260 batting average,
LANSING, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps felt the wrath of the top-hitting team in the Midwest League as part of an 8-1 loss to the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 3,166 fans at Jackson Field on Wednesday.
The Lugnuts, who entered the contest with a league-best .260 batting average, scored in each of the first six innings in delivering the Whitecaps their first loss of the 2024 second half. The ‘Caps, who posted a season-best 15 runs on 17 hits on Tuesday night, were held to just one run on five hits in Wednesday’s defeat.
The Lugnuts scored early and often on Wednesday, beginning with a run-scoring double from Euribiel Angeles in the first inning to help Lansing take a 1-0 lead. After a sacrifice fly from Cole Conn in the second, Will Simpson blasted his seventh home run of the season in the third, extending the lead to 4-0. In the following frame, a two-run triple from Jonny Butler pushed the ‘Nuts lead to 6-0 before a Luke Mann RBI-single in the fifth. The Whitecaps plated their only run in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Roberto Campos, but the Lugnuts scored a run of their own in the bottom of the inning on Butler’s second run-scoring triple of the night to give Lansing an 8-1 lead and end the scoring in the contest to give each team victories through the first two games of this series.
The Whitecaps defeat moves their season record to 35-36 and 4-1 in the second half, while the Lugnuts pick up their first second-half victory, moving to 33-37 overall and 1-4 in the second half. Lansing hurler Chen Zhong-Ao Zhuang (2-0) tossed five scoreless innings in his second win with Lansing, while Carlos Marcano (1-7) surrendered four runs in just three innings in his seventh loss of the season. Lugnuts pitcher Jake Garland tossed the final four innings out of the bullpen to record his first save of the 2024 campaign. Whitecaps pitcher Jack Anderson gave up four runs out of the West Michigan bullpen, ending his scoreless innings streak at 20.1 consecutive innings – the longest streak by a ‘Caps hurler this season.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this six-game series from Jackson Field against the Lansing Lugnuts on Thursday at 7:05 pm. Whitecaps pitcher Jaden Hamm battles Lansing righty Mitch Myers for Lansing. To catch all the action, tune into the broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids. Don’t miss out on the excitement; get your tickets for all 2024 home contests, or listen to the games live at whitecapsbaseball.com.