DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps jumped out to an early lead, but watched their opponent bring in nine runs over the first three innings – all with two outs in each frame – as part of a 12-6 loss to the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,539 fans at Day Air Ballpark on Wednesday night.
Whitecaps starting pitcher and Detroit Tigers Top-10 Prospect Ben Jacobs gave up a career-high nine runs in 2.2 innings on the mound, including a grand slam to shortstop Carlos Sanchez, who has gone 6-for-9 with four extra-base hits and eight RBI in the first two games of this series. Meanwhile, the ‘Caps tied a season-high with four homers – last set on June 2 – also against the Dragons – as part of Wednesday’s defeat.
Early in the contest, the Whitecaps enjoyed two big swings and a 3-0 lead. For just the second time this season, West Michigan launched back-to-back home runs when Ricardo Hurtado belted a two-run shot before Jackson Strong hammered a ball off the top of the right-field foul pole to give the ‘Caps an early 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the frame, a controversial two-run double by Dragons outfielder Jacob Friend, which was hit down the right field line and not called either fair or foul by the two-person Midwest League Umpiring Crew, and later ruled a double, cut the ‘Caps lead to 3-2. In the second, the Dragons scored two more runs, highlighted by a solo homer from Mason Neville in his first Midwest League at-bat to take a 4-3 lead. In the third, Sanchez hammered his grand slam as part of a five-run frame to put Dayton ahead by a score of 9-3, chasing Jacobs from the ballgame. In the sixth, the ‘Caps launched two more homers, highlighted by Strong’s second longball of the contest – becoming the first ‘Caps player to go deep twice in the same game this season. The Dragons tallied a pair of insurance runs in the eighth as part of their second straight win to open the series by a final score of 12-6.
The Whitecaps fall to 3-2 in the second half and 27-42 this season, while the Dragons improve to 3-1 in the second half and 42-28 overall. Dylan Simmons (3-1) tossed 1.1 innings out of the Dayton bullpen to collect his third win of the season, while Jacobs (1-1) took his first loss with the Whitecaps. Jimmy Romano tossed the final three frames out of the Dragons bullpen to pick up his third save of the season. For the second straight night, Dayton enjoyed a player collecting four hits on the night, as first baseman Carter Graham followed Tuesday’s banner performance from Sanchez by going 4-for-5 with three runs scored, two doubles, a home run, and two RBI as part of the Dragons victory.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this series against the Dayton Dragons, High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, at Day Air Ballpark on Thursday at 7:05pm. Detroit Tigers Top-30 Prospect Lucas Elissalt gets the start for the Whitecaps against the Dragons Ovis Portes. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.