Game recap from the TinCaps:
TinCaps Match Longest Winning Streak of Season
LANSING, Mich. (August 18, 2018) – The TinCaps matched their longest winning streak of the season on Saturday night with a 3-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts Mighty Wombats (on “Backyard Baseball” Night) at Cooley Law School Stadium. With 16 games left on the regular season schedule, Fort Wayne continues to maintain position for the top seed in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division second half playoff race.
Luis Patiño struck out five over 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the MWL’s highest-scoring team. The 18-year-old from Colombia limited Lansing to two singles (one on a bunt) and two walks.
Meanwhile, the TinCaps took a 1-0 lead in the second. After a single from shortstop Gabriel Arias, a walk from third baseman Kelvin Melean, and a single by catcher Chandler Seagle in his 2018 team debut to load the bases, Lansing starter Matt Gunter threw a wild pitch to score Arias.
In the third, designated hitter Owen Miller led off with a single – his second of a game-high four hits on the night. Two batters later Arias doubled, advancing miller to third. Melean then singled to right-center to bring in a pair and increase the ‘Caps lead to 3-0.
Patiño departed after walking a pair with two outs in the sixth, but lefty Danny Sexton came in and extinguished the threat.
Left-hander Ben Sheckler worked 1 2/3 innings of relief after Sexton, leaving with a pair on base. A third straight southpaw, Fred Schlichtholz, came next. Though Schlichtholz allowed a single to Andres Sotillo that put Lansing on the board, the Chula Vista, California, native struck out Vinny Capra to strand the tying runs on base. Schlichtholz stayed on for a perfect ninth to record his second save in the last five days.
The only other time this season the TinCaps had won six in a row was June 24-28.