LANSING, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps surpassed their season total in home runs in a four-inning span in their second shutout of the 2023 campaign in a 6-0 win over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 6,282 fans Thursday night at Jackson Field.
The Whitecaps, who totaled three home
LANSING, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps surpassed their season total in home runs in a four-inning span in their second shutout of the 2023 campaign in a 6-0 win over the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 6,282 fans Thursday night at Jackson Field.
The Whitecaps, who totaled three home runs in their first five games, enjoyed homers from Austin Murr, Eliezer Alfonzo, Izaac Pacheco, and Ben Malgeri in the back half of the contest to put them in first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division.
Entering the fifth with a 1-0 advantage, the Whitecaps enjoyed a one-out homer from Murr to double their lead to 2-0. In the sixth, the Whitecaps launched back-to-back home runs for the first time since May 10, 2022, when Alfonzo blasted a 446-foot two-run homer to extend the edge to 4-0. Pacheco followed with an opposite-field solo blast, his first of the season to bring the lead to 5-0. Malgeri concluded the scoring with a home run in the eighth, his team-best third of the season, sending the ‘Caps to their fifth win in six games this season.
The Whitecaps take first place in the Eastern Division at 5-1, while the Lugnuts fall to 4-2. ‘Caps reliever Angel Reyes (1-0) tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief to collect his first win of the season, while Lugnuts starter Joelvis Del Rosario (0-1) gave up five runs and three home runs in his first loss of the 2023 campaign. Outfielder Ben Malgeri extended his hitting streak to six games and scored three of the Whitecaps’ six runs. The West Michigan pitching staff has given up just 12 total runs in their first six games.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps play the fourth game of this six-game series against the Lansing Lugnuts on Friday at 6:05 pm. Pitcher Keider Montero makes his second start of the year against Lugnuts righty Jacob Watters. Broadcast coverage with Jeremy Otto begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 5:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2023 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.