Game recap from the TinCaps:
TinCaps Move Into Tie For Playoff Spot With Win
(August 5, 2014) – The hottest team in the Midwest League kept on rolling at Parkview Field Tuesday night. The TinCaps beat the Lansing Lugnuts, 7-1, for their fourth consecutive win and 10th in their last 13 games.
With 26 games remaining in the season, Fort Wayne finds itself tied with Dayton for the Eastern Division’s second half wild card. The TinCaps are only one game behind Great Lakes for the second half title after West Michigan and South Bend secured postseason bids in the first half.
As has become the norm of late, Fort Wayne (21-23, 51-62) received a sensational effort from its starting pitcher and had a balanced offensive attack. Jeffery Enloe (4-3) needed only 60 pitches to get through six scoreless innings. The left-hander scattered four hits, and no walks, while striking out four.
“Starting the game off with my fastball-changeup combination keeping the batters off balance was key,” Enloe said. “And then later in the game coming in with my curveball – giving them something they hadn’t seen.”
Since he joined the TinCaps’ rotation on July 3, Enloe has a 2.38 ERA across seven starts. He has earned a win in four of his last five starts. Thrice Enloe hasn’t allowed an earned run.
Meanwhile, at the plate, Fort Wayne gave Enloe a lead one batter into the bottom of the first inning against Miguel Castro (0-1). Shortstop Trea Turner cranked his second home run in a week over the wall in left-center field to provide the TinCaps with a 1-0 edge. Turner also collected two singles, including an RBI base-hit in the eighth. In 21 games in the Midwest League, the rookie is hitting .466 with an on-base percentage of .520.
“It’s very relaxing,” Enloe said of pitching with the lead. “You try not to think about it too much. When you start getting too lax out there, then pretty soon you look up and it’s a tie baseball game. You still stay on it, stay aggressive, and stay pushing.”
The Summit City club added to its lead in the fourth with an RBI groundout by Dustin Peterson and a three-run homer by Nick Schulz to make it 5-0. For Schulz, it was his fourth home run in as many days. The outfielder had 1 HR and 5 RBI through his first 23 games with Fort Wayne and now has 4 HR and 11 RBI over his last six as he’s raised his average from .268 to .317 along the way.
In addition to Turner’s eighth inning RBI, Fernando Perez also plated a run for a second game in a row to give the TinCaps a 7-0 lead. Lansing’s only run came in the ninth against Eric Yardley, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning in his 17th appearance of the season in which he recorded more than three outs. Jorge Guzman put up a zero in the seventh out of the bullpen.
Every TinCap in the lineup Tuesday either reached base or drove in a run.
Fort Wayne has won five consecutive series and goes for a sweep of Lansing (19-24, 51-62) on Wednesday afternoon at 12:05. Ronald Herrera is scheduled to start for the TinCaps against Starlyn Suriel for the Lugnuts, who have lost three consecutive games and seven of their last eight. The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1380, TinCaps.com, and the TuneIn Radio app, and seen on XFINITY Channel 81.
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