Game recap from the TinCaps:
TinCaps score come-from-behind 7-6 win over South Bend
(April 16, 2015) – Felipe Blanco hit a walk-off double in the bottom of the 10th inning to lead the TinCaps to a come-from-behind, 7-6 win over South Bend at Parkview Field on Thursday night.
With two outs and Trae Santos at first base, Blanco drove a 3-1 Francisco Carrillo (0-1) pitch to the opposite-field gap in right-center. As soon as Santos slid and slapped the plate ahead of a throw home, he was hugged by teammates. The TinCaps have now won two in a row over their in-state rival and have a chance to sweep South Bend on Friday.
The wild win was far from ordinary.
Fort Wayne (2-3) trailed by three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning before tying the game, 5-5, only to see South Bend retake the lead in the top of the ninth, and then tie it again, 6-6.
The game featured 27 combined hits, in addition to a few miscues on the bases. Both sides had a runner thrown out at the plate (there was almost a second for the visitors in the ninth), while South Bend was caught stealing four times and Blanco was called out on interference in the third after running into his manager, Francisco Morales, who was coaching third.
Adding to the unpredictability of events was the fact that at the beginning of the week, Blanco was not even in the TinCaps’ starting lineup. The 21-year-old from the Dominican Republic has replaced Josh VanMeter at second base after VanMeter fractured his left fibula on Monday.
On top of that, Blanco drove in Santos, who had only entered the game as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning. Santos’ single to right field in the 10th snapped an 0-for-12 slump.
Franmil Reyes helped make the jubilation possible with his two-out, game-tying RBI-single in the last of the ninth against Carrillo. Prior to that, it was Duanel Jones who came through in the clutch with a bases-clearing double down the left-field line in the eighth to knot the game. Jones had four RBIs on the night.
Kyle McGrath (W, 1-0) picked up the win with a scoreless 10th inning. Though not figuring into the decision, Wilson Santos blanked South Bend for 2 2/3 innings out of the bullpen to keep the game within striking distance after Fort Wayne fell behind 5-2 in the sixth.
Eight different TinCaps had a hit — none more than catcher Jose Ruiz, who had three to raise his early-season batting average to .438. He also threw out a pair of potential base-stealers.
Nick Torres contributed two hits, upping his average to .474 — second best in the Midwest League after a week.
Fort Wayne and South Bend are set to start at 7:05 p.m. Friday. Right-hander Dinelson Lamet (0-0, 9.00) will toe the rubber for the TinCaps against righty Erick Leal. The game can be seen on Comcast Network 81 and heard on ESPN Radio 1380, TinCaps.com, and the TuneIn Radio app.
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