LANSING, Mich. – Jake Reinisch crushed a 441-foot solo home run in the eighth to force extra innings, but a Robbie Lavey two-run double in the 11th powered the Manzanas Luchadoras de Fort Wayne (26-33, 53-72) to a 6-4 win over the Lansing Locos (25-35, 54-70) in an all-Copa Tuesday night duel at JacksonⓇ Field™.
Despite the loss, Lansing has won 13 of its last 16 home games.
Lansing fell into a hole early, largely due to a 437-foot three-run blast to left center from Kerrington Cross off starter José Parra with two outs in the first inning.
Fort Wayne widened the gap in the second thanks to a Locos mistake; with two outs, catcher Bryan Arendt fired a throw to third base as Kasen Wells attempted a steal, but the ball was off target, bringing Wells home for a 4-0 advantage.
Parra’s night ended after two innings – the starter allowed three hits, two walks and four runs (three earned) with four strikeouts – but Lansing found support from its bullpen. Riley Huge entered in the third and tossed 2 ⅓ innings, allowing four hits and two walks but no runs with three strikeouts, and Luis Carrasco continued to blank Fort Wayne through the seventh inning, giving the offense a chance to catch up.
“Wasn't too sharp,” Huge said about his outing. “I felt like I was grinding the entire outing. It was a little hotter a little earlier, so I mean, just trying to grind through the innings and get the job done, which I did. Not pretty, but we did it.”
In the third inning, Arendt and Rodney Green Jr. drew walks off starter Carson Montgomery, and Arendt advanced to third on a fielder’s choice from Jared Davis. With two outs, Gunner Gouldsmith lined an RBI single into center field, bringing Arendt home to make it 4-1.
To lead off the fifth inning, Arendt welcomed reliever Isaiah Lowe to the game with a solo home run slugged 396 feet to left, cutting the deficit to 4-2. After a strikeout of Green, Davis reached base on a four-pitch walk, stole second and advanced to third on a Lowe wild pitch before Breyson Guedez plated him with an RBI single to bring the Locos to within one.
With one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, Reinisch unleashed his 441-foot solo home run to right-center field off reliever Will Koger, tying the game at four runs apiece.
“I felt like I was taking some good pitches, swinging at bad pitches, so I was just really looking for something in the zone and (to) just put a good swing on it,” Reinisch said. “Looking to get on base there in a one-run game.”
After a scoreless 9th and 10th, Lavey slashed a two-run double to the deep portion of right-center field in the top of the 11th, and the Locos went down in order to end the comeback bid.
On offense, Myles Naylor finished 2-for-5 with a double, Arendt hit 1-for-3 with two walks, two runs scored and an RBI and Davis went 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored.
With his home run, Reinisch extended his on-base streak to 40 games, the third-longest active stretch in Minor League Baseball.
“It's just one of those things, it's like, it's cool, but you're not really thinking about it during the games,” Reinisch said. “I'm just trying to take it one pitch at a time.”
“He's making good decisions at the plate,” manager Javier Godard said. “He's aggressive to his pitch, and if they don't throw his pitch, he walks. So he's a guy that's gonna walk, but if you throw him down the middle, he gonna make damage. So I think that's the reason he's been on a good streak so far.”
Southpaw Jackson Nove starts on the mound for Lansing on Wednesday, opposing Fort Wayne’s Matthew Watson. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. for the final Dog Days of Summer of 2026, with dogs welcome at the ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.
# # #