Game recap from the TinCaps:
TinCaps come from behind win in epic fashion
GRAND CHUTE, Wisc. (June 7, 2015) – Franchy Cordero hit a two-out, two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning to lift the TinCaps to a come from behind, 5-4, win over the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field.
Fort Wayne (24-32) was down to its final strike, trailing 4-2, with no one on base before a wild comeback. Edwin Moreno hit a pinch-hit double to right field in a 2-2 count to spark the rally. Shortstop Ruddy Giron followed with a run-scoring single on an 0-2 pitch to make it 4-3.
Wisconsin (17-40) brought in right-handed reliever Josh Uhen L, 1-2) to face the left-handed batting Cordero. The first pitch Uhen threw Cordero crushed over the left-center field fence. It was his fourth homer of the year and easily his most clutch.
Colby Blueberg (S, 4) pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
The TinCaps found themselves playing from behind after the Rattlers broke a 1-1 tie with three runs in the home seventh.
Right fielder Nick Torres had given Fort Wayne a 1-0 lead three batters into the game when he doubled to score Cordero, who had singled. Wisconsin, however, tied the game in the fifth inning.
A rather mundane game picked up in intensity in the sixth inning. Locked, 1-1, Michael Gettys hit a two-out single with Torres at second base. Torres was called out at the plate despite the fact that catcher Carlos Leal was blocking the plate before he had the ball. Torres and TinCaps manager Francisco Morales argued the call with home plate umpire Zach Tieche to no avail.
In the bottom of the sixth, matters continued to escalate. With a runner at first and no outs, designated hitter Dustin DeMuth fouled a pitch that also hit his hand as he was attempting to put down a sacrifice bunt. DeMuth his manager Matt Erickson challenged that the batter was pulling the bat back and should be given first. DeMuth eventually struck out and slammed his bat into the plate, splintering the wood. The T-Rats went on to load the bases anyway with one out only for Ernesto Montas to strike out Monte Harrison. Brandon Fry then came in out of the bullpen. The left-hander struck out Tucker Neuhaus and pounded his chest as he came off the mound, drawing the ire of the home fans.
In the top of the seventh, Fort Wayne’s first batter, third baseman Nick Vilter, was hit in the back by a Zach Cooper pitch. The next batter, catcher Jose Ruiz, was also hit, although on a 1-2 pitch. In the bottom of that frame, Leal plated Gregory Munoz with a single in the seventh inning to make it 2-1, nearly everyone in Wisconsin’s dugout came onto the field to greet Munoz.
Seth Lucio (W, 4-2) worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen and wound up with the win. Fort Wayne cut its deficit to 4-3 in the eighth inning on a Franmil Reyes RBI-double.
The TinCaps go for their fourth consecutive series victory in the rubber match of the three-game set on Monday at 8:05 p.m. Fort Wayne is scheduled to start left-hander Jose Castillo (0-0, 4.50) against lefty Zach Hirsch (1-3, 4.02). The game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1380, Box Score, and the TuneIn Radio app.
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