COMSTOCK PARK, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps kicked off the second half of the regular season with a late comeback victory, as a key home run and strong pitching carried them past the Lansing Lugnuts 3-2 in front of 7,051 fans Friday night at LMCU Ballpark.
Whitecaps outfielder Garrett Pennington added his team-high 13th home run of the season — a go-ahead three-run homer — while pitchers Juanmi Vasquez, Preston Howey, and Inohan Paniagua combined for 4.1 shutout innings to cap off the come-from-behind win.
Lansing took the lead in the third as infielders Gunner Gouldsmith and Jared Sprague-Lott both collected RBI singles, giving the Lugnuts a 2-0 advantage. Meanwhile, Lugnuts starting pitcher Samuel Dutton held the ‘Caps to just three baserunners through the first five frames while recording a pair of strikeouts. West Michigan finally broke through in the sixth, as Pennington launched a three-run homer in West Michigan’s only at-bat with a runner in scoring position in the contest to put the ‘Caps in front, 3-2. Whitecaps starting pitcher Carlos Marcano departed after allowing two runs through 4.2 innings before the bullpen shut down Lansing. ‘Caps relievers limited the Lugnuts to just three hits the rest of the way to put the finishing touches on the 3-2 victory.
The Whitecaps improve to 1-0 in the second half and 25-40 overall, while the Lugnuts fall to 0-1 in the second half and 29-36 overall. Howey (1-1) secured his first win of the season by tossing three shutout innings, while Paniagua earned his first save with a scoreless ninth inning. Meanwhile, Dutton (1-4) suffered his fourth loss after giving up three runs through six innings. Whitecaps pitchers have been lights out in the first three games of the series, allowing just three runs through 27 innings pitched.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps play the penultimate game of this series on Star Wars Night – scheduled for Saturday at 7:05pm. Righty Rayner Castillo gets the start for West Michigan against the Lugnuts Zane Taylor. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler 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.