Game recap from the TinCaps:
TinCaps Win and Donate Big on Stand Up To Cancer Night presented by Fifth Third Bank
The TinCaps hit four home runs in a game for the first time this season and clobbered the Great Lakes Loons, 10-0, on Wednesday night at Parkview Field. Fort Wayne rolled to its eighth shutout win of the season thanks to six scoreless innings from starting pitcher Kyle Lloyd.
Franmil Reyes gave the TinCaps a 3-0 lead before an out was recorded in the bottomf of the first inning. Reyes rocketed a 3-1 pitch from Brandon Martinez (1-8) over the XFINITY Home Run Porch in left field to score Trea Turner and Fernando Perez.
Fort Wayne (26-32, 56-71) added to its advantage with solo homers from Henry Charles and Perez in the second and third innings, respectively. Then in the fifth, the TinCaps tacked on five more. Rey Bruguera hit a sacrifice fly, Trea Turner plated two with a double, and Perez vaulted his second longball of the game — a two-run shot to make it 10-0.
The last time Fort Wayne hit four homers in a game was also against Great Lakes on April 6, 2013.
The offensive eruption was superfluous for Lloyd, who held Great Lakes (27-31, 61-67) to one hit and one walk. The right-hander struck out six to raise his Midwest League-leading K count to 141 in 110 2/3 innings pitched. Lloyd (6-4) has fanned 67 batters over his last eight starts. That’s an average of 8.4 per start. No pitcher at any level of Minor League Baseball has as many strikeouts since July 12. Better yet, Lloyd’s ERA over that stretch is 1.40.
Side-armer Eric Yardley frisbeed a scoreless seventh and Tyler Wood twirled a perfect eighth and ninth. The Loons finished the game with two hits and one walk. It was the second time this season the TinCaps prevented their opponent from having a runner reach second base in a game.
Fort Wayne’s pitchers picked a good night to collectively strike out eight batters. As part of Stand Up To Cancer Night presented by Fifth Third Bank, Fifth Third Bank donated $250 to Stand Up To Cancer for every strikeout. Thus, Lloyd, Yardley, and Wood raised $2,000-worth of donations on a night when the team wore special jerseys designed Cory Dold, a fan who won the Fifth Third Bank Design-A-Jersey contest held in June.
Dold’s design — inspired by his mother Kandy, who beat breast cancer three years ago — featured a large white cancer awareness ribbon on both the front and back. Inside the ribbons were words like fight, hope, and strong written in colorful fonts. The jerseys were auctioned off during the game and raised a total of $4,470. The TinCaps are donating the proceeds to Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana.
Wednesday’s game was played at a brisk pace in 2 hours, 12 minutes, making it the shortest nine-inning game of the season at Parkview Field.
With 12 games remaining in the season, Fort Wayne trails the Dayton Dragons by 2.0 games for the Eastern Division’s second-half wild card.
The TinCaps travel to Lake County on Thursday to play the Captains at 7:00 p.m. Fort Wayne is scheduled to start Jeffery Enloe against Lake County’s Luis Lugo in a matchup of left-handers. The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1380, TinCaps.com, and the TuneIn Radio app.
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