The Fort Wayne TinCaps scored seven runs in the second inning to beat the Lansing Lugnuts, 13-5, on Sunday afternoon at Jackson Field.
Game recap from the Fort Wayne TinCaps:
Big Second Inning Propels TinCaps to Third Consecutive Win
By Ben ShulmanLansing, Michigan (April 24, 2022) – The Fort Wayne TinCaps scored seven runs in the second inning to beat the Lansing Lugnuts (Oakland Athletics affiliate), 13-5, on Sunday afternoon at Jackson Field. With a 10-5 record, the ‘Caps are off to their best start since 2009.
The second inning flurry matched the most Fort Wayne has scored in a single inning this season — tied with the seven-run sixth frame the TinCaps put up against the Dayton Dragons on April 10.Before the second started, the ’Caps already had a lead, 1-0. Brandon Valenzuela singled in Corey Rosier to start the scoring in the first. Valenzuela’s lead-grabbing single marked the eighth time Fort Wayne has scored the first run this season. The TinCaps are 7-1 when scoring first. The second inning rally began with a trio of walks. Olivier Basabe and Ripken Reyes, who both walked, scored on wild pitches. The biggest hits of the inning were RBI doubles from Robert Hassell III and Valenzuela. Hassell doubled over the head of Lansing center fielder Austin Beck to score one, and Valenzuela doubled in a pair with a liner to the left-center gap.
Hasell, San Diego’s top-rated prospect in the minors, upped his season batting average to .397 with a 2-for-4 performance. The outfielder also walked twice to elevate his on-base percentage to .455 and OPS to 1.093.
Justin Lopez also singled in a pair of runs to cap off the inning. Lopez picked up one more single and another RBI before the game was done to finish 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs. The score was 8-0 in favor of Fort Wayne following the top of the second. The Lugnuts made it competitive in the middle of the game. Lazaro Armenteros hit a solo home run in the third to get Lansing on the board. In the fifth, Beck hit a grand slam to left-center field to push the score to 8-5. That was the closest the Lugnuts came. After a Rosier run in the sixth that made it 9-5, Angel Solarte singled and scored in the seventh. Solarte had a three-hit day, walked once, scored twice, and had two RBIs. Rosier singled and scored once again in eighth before Solarte had his third hit, an RBI single to right that punched in Lopez. Reyes and Hassell each collected base hits, and each reached safely for the fourth time in the game, in the ninth. The TinCaps scored one more for insurance in the final frame, a Jarryd Dale double that brought in Reyes to make it 13-5.
In 2009, the ‘Caps began the season 12-3. Since then, no other Fort Wayne team has won 10 of its first 15.
Next Game: Tuesday, April 26 vs. Dayton (6:35 p.m.)
- Fort Wayne Probable Starter: LHP Robert Gasser
- Lansing Probable Starter: RHP Joe Boyle
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