The Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped the finale of their homestand against the West Michigan Whitecaps, 5-2, in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,573 on Military Appreciation Day.
Game recap from the Fort Wayne TinCaps:
Sellout Crowd Packs Parkview Field on Military Appreciation Day
By Joseph HartzellFort Wayne, Indiana (August 4, 2024) – The Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped the finale of their homestand against the West Michigan Whitecaps (Tigers affiliate), 5-2, in front of a sold-out crowd of 7,573 on Military Appreciation Day presented by Omni, Steel Dynamics, and the San Diego Padres.
The game started in Fort Wayne’s (12-24, 40-62) favor, as they scored early. Second baseman Anthony Vilar led off the inning with a line-drive single, and first baseman Romeo Sanabria (No. 27 Padres prospect) promptly doubled him home after a groundout moved Vilar to second.
That was the extent of the scoring until the fifth inning when center fielder Joshua Mears hit a home run to straightaway center field with a exit velocity of 118.2 miles per hour off the bat to double the TinCaps’ lead.
The game stayed stuck at 2-0 until the seventh when West Michigan (20-15, 51-50) struck for two runs off of a Josh Crouch single. The Whitecaps gained the lead in the eighth on a pop-up into no-man’s land and added insurance in the ninth with an RBI groundout and Thayron Liranzo’s (No. 5 Tigers prospect) RBI single.
Fort Wayne’s starter Fernando Sanchez and reliever Dwayne Matos combined for six scoreless innings, striking out six combined Whitecaps, while only allowing two combined hits. Sanchez went the first four with four punchouts himself.
Mears kept up his hot start to August. The outfielder is 6-for-14 to start the month with three homers. His 118.2-mph shot would slot him in at fourth in Major League Baseball for max exit velocity this season. With that home run, Mears moves into a tie for second all-time in Fort Wayne franchise history for career home runs at 32. (The franchise record is held by Jacob Patterson, who hit 34 homers between 1995 and ’97.)
Meanwhile, Sanabria finished with a pair of doubles and left fielder Nick Vogt, on his 24th birthday, singled twice. Reliever Bradgley Rodriguez (No. 21 Padres prospect) retired West Michigan’s top three hitters in order in the seventh with runners at first and second and the score tied, 2-2. It marked his 11th consecutive scoreless appearance, spanning 13 innings. It was also the second consecutive weekend he pitched in games both Saturday and Sunday.
For this special game, the TinCaps wore patriotic jerseys that are being auctioned off until midnight at tincaps.com/auction. Proceeds are supporting Honor Flight Northeast Indiana. Festivities during the day included a pregame flyover by A-16s from the nearby 122nd Fighter Wing.
Parkview Field has now had 14 sellouts this season.
Next Game: Tuesday, August 6 @ South Bend (7:05)
- TinCaps Probable Starter: LHP Jagger Haynes (No. 12 Padres prospect)
- Cubs Probable Starter: RHP Nico Zeglin
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