News release from the TinCaps:
TinCaps double-up Dragons, 8-4
(May 25, 2014) – Despite not making the TinCaps roster out of spring training, starting pitcher Kyle Lloyd has proven himself to be the team’s most reliable starter in the last three weeks. The 23-year-old pitched six innings and earned a win Sunday night in an 8-4 victory over the Dayton Dragons, and increased his team-leading strikeout total to 39.
Lloyd (2-1) allowed two runs in his outing, striking out four and walking two, but received plenty of firepower from the Fort Wayne (20-27) lineup as both Ryan Miller and Jake Bauers went deep. After going down, 1-0, in the top of the second inning, the TinCaps responded with a two-run home run from Miller, his third longball of the season, as part of a four-run second inning.
Dayton (27-21) and Fort Wayne were both scoreless in the third, but the TinCaps took advantage of wayward pitching by Dragons starter Amir Garrett (0-4), who walked in a run in the fourth, which led to him being yanked from the game. Nolan Becker, making his first Midwest League appearance, fanned Dustin Peterson to start, but with the bases still loaded, walked Fernando Perez, stretching the Fort Wayne lead to 6-2. Franmil Reyes also chipped in a sacrifice fly to make it 7-2.
Continuing his excellent full-season debut, Jake Bauers launched his second home run of the year in the fifth inning. The solo shot gave the TinCaps an 8-2 lead, surely pleasing Bauers’ parents, Misty and Stu, who were in from California to watch their son play. Bauers finished the night 3-for-4, marking his fifth three-hit game, which is the most by any player on the team.
Justin Livengood surrendered two eighth-inning runs, and Eric Yardley pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the win, Fort Wayne’s third in four days.
Game two of the series is a Memorial Day matinee, set for a 1:05 first pitch at Parkview Field. The scheduled starters are Coby Cowgill for the TinCaps and former first-round pick Nick Travieso for Dayton. The game can be seen on XFINITY 81 and heard on TheFanFortWayne.com.