DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps watched their starting pitcher last just a single inning, but a taxed bullpen stepped up to cover the remainder of the ballgame as part of an 11-4 win over the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,678 fans in attendance at Day Air Ballpark on Thursday night.
After Whitecaps starting pitcher Lucas Elissalt threw over 30 pitches in the first inning, West Michigan was tasked with using its bullpen, which had pitched over 15 of the first 18 innings of this series, to cover the final eight frames. The ‘Caps mixed and matched did splendidly with a combination of Ryan Harvey, Carlos Lequerica, Preston Howey, and Logan Berrier, who held the Dragons to just three runs over the final eight frames, while their offense exploded for a pair of five-run innings in West Michigan’s first win of the series.
Dayton built an early lead to start the contest but left some potential runs on the bases to begin the ballgame. The Dragons plated single runs in each of the first three innings but managed to strand the bases loaded with one out in the first. In the third, a bases-loaded walk to Ricardo Hurtado gave the ‘Caps their first run before Clayton Campbell highlighted a five-run frame with a three-run homer with two outs on a 1-2 pitch to give West Michigan a 5-2 lead. In the fourth and fifth, each team collected a run as West Michigan outfielder Andrew Sojka delivered an infield single that scored Stephen Hrustich from second base, and Dragons first baseman Jacob Friend cut the Dayton deficit to two with a run-scoring single. In the seventh, the Whitecaps put the game out of reach with their second five-run frame of the night, highlighted by a two-run single by Juan Hernandez and singles by Woody Hadeen and Ricardo Hurtado to send home a pair of runs and extend the ‘Caps lead to 11-4 on their way to the Thursday victory.
The Whitecaps move their early second-half record to 4-2 in the second half and 28-42 this season, while the Dragons drop to 3-2 in the second half and 42-29 overall. Harvey (2-2) collects his second win of the season for tossing 2.1 frames in relief, while Dragons starter Ovis Portes (1-4) takes the loss. The Whitecaps have had the righty’s number this season, scoring 17 runs in Portes’ 9.2 innings on the mound. Every Whitecaps player collected at least one base hit in the 14-hit attack, while Howey retired the final eight batters he faced out of the bullpen.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps play the fourth game of this series against the Dayton Dragons, High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, at Day Air Ballpark on Friday at 7:05pm. Pitchers Jake Miller and Reynardo Cruz get the starts for West Michigan and Dayton. 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.