COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. – Hayden Minton and four relievers combined to calm down the Lansing Lugnuts’ (29-34) hot offense, and the West Michigan Whitecaps (23-40) claimed a 4-1 series-opening win on Tuesday evening at LMCU Ballpark.
The Lugnuts had entered the game batting .327 in their last six games, averaging 9.5 runs per game, but were held to a Pedro Pineda RBI single in the fourth inning.
Minton finished with two hits allowed in five innings, and Thomas Bruss, Logan Berrier, Zack Lee and Ryan Harvey followed with a scoreless inning apiece.
Blanked through the first five innings by Nathan Dettmer, the Whitecaps loaded the bases in the sixth on a single from Samuel Gil and back-to-back walks to Woody Hadeen and Jackson Strong. Dettmer struck out Garrett Pennington before yielding to Jack Mahoney – but Mahoney plunked Bryce Rainer to force in the game-tying run and walked Andrew Sojka to give the Whitecaps a 2-1 lead.
West Michigan added two insurance runs in the seventh via a Strong sac fly and a Garrett Pennington RBI double off Mahoney and Blaze Pontes.
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In the losing cause, **Ali Camarillo went 2-for-4 with a single and a double; Jared Sprague-Lott and C.J. Pittaro each singled and walked; and Rodney Green, Jr. drew a pair of walks.
Lansing right-hander Steven Echavarria takes on Whitecaps southpaw Ben Jacobs in the second game of the series, set for Wednesday at 6:35 p.m.
The Nuts play the Whitecaps through Sunday, returning to Lansing to host Great Lakes from June 23-28. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.
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