FORT WAYNE, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps enjoyed a huge night from catcher Ricardo Hurtado, who tied a career high with five RBI as part of a 12-5 win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps in front of 4,831 fans on Tuesday night at Parkview Field.
Hurtado drove in all five of his runs in a two-at-bat span, with a three-run homer in the fifth inning before giving the ‘Caps more insurance with a two-run double in the seventh. With the victory, the Whitecaps sit just one game back of first place behind the Great Lakes Loons in the Midwest League Eastern Division.
The Whitecaps established themselves early to open this series when first baseman Beau Ankeney lasered his first home run as a member of the ‘Caps on a 3-0 pitch, with a two-run shot registering at 110 mph to give West Michigan a 2-0 lead. After the TinCaps cut the deficit in half with a solo home run by catcher Carlos Hernandez in the bottom of the frame, the ‘Caps took advantage of a TinCaps error to plate Woody Hadeen on a single by Bryce Rainer to extend the lead to 3-1. In the fifth, Hurtado sent the first pitch he saw deep over the left-field wall for a three-run homer – his seventh of the season – to blow the game open and give West Michigan a 6-1 advantage. The TinCaps proceeded to score the next three runs, highlighted by a two-run blast from first baseman Jack Costello to trim the Fort Wayne deficit to 6-4. The ‘Caps blew the game open once again with a four-run seventh highlighted by Hurtado’s two-run double to give West Michigan its largest lead of the night to that point at 10-4. In the eighth, Cristian Santana added his eighth home run of the season with a solo shot to help the Whitecaps conclude the scoring and march to a 12-5 victory in the first game of their series in Fort Wayne.
The Whitecaps jump to 20-17 in the second half and 44-57 overall, while the TinCaps drop to 18-17 in the second half and 45-56 overall. Ethan Sloan (5-3) tossed a scoreless seventh inning, striking out one batter to earn his fifth win of the season, while TinCaps starter Luis Gutierrez (0-1) allowed three runs in three innings in taking his first loss of the year. The Whitecaps hammered out 15 base hits on the night, with Woody Hadeen collecting four hits on his own with three runs scored.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue this six-game series at Parkview Field with their second game against the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Wednesday night, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 pm. Lefty Ben Jacobs gets the start for West Michigan against the TinCaps Winyer Chourio. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network and on whitecapsbaseball.com at 6:20 pm, and on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids beginning at 7 pm.