COMSTOCK PARK, MI – West Michigan Whitecaps starting pitcher Lucas Elissalt enjoyed his best start of the season as an early offensive explosion helped the ‘Caps to a 9-3 win over the Lake County Captains in front of 4,851 fans Thursday night at LMCU Ballpark.
Elissalt tossed five scoreless innings, collecting five strikeouts while allowing just two Captains hitters to reach base. Whitecaps pitchers held Lake County to just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position in the victory. West Michigan finished just one run shy of scoring double digits in three straight games for the first time since May 13-15, 2015, when it accomplished the feat in victories over the Bowling Green Hot Rods and Lansing Lugnuts.
West Michigan scored two runs in each of the first three innings, highlighted by an RBI single from designated hitter Luke Shliger, an RBI single from infielder Samuel Gil, and a two-run single from Cristian Santana in the third to take a 6-0 lead. Two continued to be the lucky number for the ‘Caps in the fifth, as outfielder Patrick Lee launched a two-run homer over the right-field wall to expand the lead to 8-0. Lake County broke through in the sixth inning as a wild pitch allowed Logun Clark to score before a two-run double by shortstop Dean Curley trimmed the ‘Caps' lead to 8-3. Whitecaps infielder Woody Hadeen added an insurance run in the eighth with an RBI triple before 'Caps reliever Eliseo Mota slammed the door with two scoreless frames to cap the victory.
The Whitecaps improve to 8-4 in the second half and 32-44 overall, while the Captains fall to 5-6 in the second half and 42-33 overall. Elissalt (2-4) earned his second win of the season, while Captains starting pitcher Will McCausland (0-2) suffered his second loss after allowing six runs over 3.2 innings. Every Whitecaps hitter reached base safely at least once as part of the victory.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this six-game series against the Lake County Captains on Friday night from LMCU Ballpark at 6:35pm. Lefty and Detroit Tigers Top-20 Prospect Jake Miller squares off against fellow lefty Michael Kennedy on the mound. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20pm on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.