News release from the TinCaps:
TinCaps Walk Off Winners, Sweep Dragons
(May 27, 2014) – Dating back to July 7, 2012, the Fort Wayne TinCaps have won 99 consecutive games when leading entering the ninth inning, and that streak was in peril Tuesday afternoon at Parkview Field. Dayton got a two-out, ninth-inning single to tie the game, but Henry Charles delivered a walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth for the TinCaps to lock up a three-game sweep over Dayton.
Charles’ big day finished with the game winning double to score Ryan Miller, who came in as a pinch-runner for catcher Adolfo Reina, who had walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth against Dayton (27-23) reliever Ryan Kemp (1-2). Charles stroked the game’s final pitch into the left-field corner, allowing Miller to score ahead of a relay throw that sailed halfway up the netting behind home plate.
Fort Wayne (22-29) scored in the first inning on a two-run home run by Franmil Reyes, his team-leading sixth home run of the season, against Dragons lefty Nick Routt, who was making his Midwest League debut. Routt lasted two outs into the sixth, allowing four earned runs, walking three and fanning three within an 82-pitch day.
Meanwhile TinCaps starter Walker Weickel turned in his most efficient outing of the season, allowing three earned runs in six innings. While throwing 71 pitches, the righthander surrendered three hits, walked three, and struck out three. He threw just 16 pitches in the first two innings and had three 1-2-3 innings under his belt when he left the mound with a 4-3 lead.
TinCaps closer Nick Mutz (1-3) took the hill in the ninth with a 4-3 lead thanks to Charles’ first RBI of the day, which came on a two-out single in the sixth inning, scoring Jake Bauers from second base. Despite the blown save, courtesy of a Jamodrick McGruder RBI, Mutz was offered relief in the bottom half of the inning, helping Fort Wayne notch the win.
The three-game sweep is the TinCaps’ third of the year, after doing so against Peoria in April, and Lake County earlier this month. Fort Wayne has won eight of its last nine games at Parkview Field, and takes a season-best three-game winning streak on the road to Bowling Green, Kentucky, Wednesday night. First pitch at Bowling Green Ballpark against the Hot Rods is scheduled for 8:05 PM ET. The scheduled starters are Adrian De Horta for the TinCaps and Jamie Schultz for the affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The game can be heard on The Fan 1380 and TheFanFortWayne.com.
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