EASTLAKE, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps enjoyed a late-inning comeback for the second straight night, but this time, they were unable to make it stand as a wild pitch by reliever Jalen Evans led to a 9-8 walk-off loss to the Lake County Captains on Saturday night at Classic Park.
West Michigan, who rallied from a four-run deficit in an 8-6 win on Friday, were able to claw back after trailing 6-3 with a five-run eighth inning, but the Captains answered with a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth to guarantee a series split and give Lake County a chance to win the series with a victory in Sunday’s series finale.
The Whitecaps powered themselves to an early lead when first baseman Garrett Pennington added to his team lead with his 11th home run of the season – a two-run shot in the opening inning to give West Michigan a 2-0 edge. Captains infielder Dean Curley answered in the bottom of the frame with a solo home run to trim the ‘Caps lead to 2-1. After the ‘Caps added a run in the second, a two-run lead became a two-run deficit when Lake County exploded with a four-run fourth inning highlighted by a two-run double from Curley to jump ahead, 5-3. Lake County added a run in the sixth when a run-scoring single by Jace LaViolette to extend the advantage to 6-3, but the ‘Caps had another late-inning surge to offer – this time by scoring five times in the eighth. A two-run single by Woody Hadeen tied the contest at six before Jackson Strong put the Whitecaps on top with a two-run triple to take an 8-6 lead. After Lake County collected a run on a solo homer by Esteban Gonzalez in the eighth, the ninth inning saw the Captains tie the game on a run-scoring groundout by Jeffrey Mercedes before the next pitch from Evans went to the backstop to score outfielder Aaron Walton from third base and give Lake County the dramatic victory.
The Whitecaps drop to 22-40 in the first half, while the Captains record improves to 35-26. Kendeglys Virguez (2-1) collected his second win of the season after tossing 1.1 innings out of the bullpen, while Evans (2-2) took his second loss and blown save of the season. Strong led the Whitecaps offense by reaching base four times and a home run short of hitting for the cycle in a losing cause.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps conclude this series against the Lake County Captains on Sunday from Classic Park at 4:00pm. Lefty and Tigers Top-10 Prospect Andrew Sears makes another rehab assignment start for West Michigan against the Captains Jackson Humphries. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 3:45pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.