LANSING, MI – Outfielder Dom Johnson’s first home run with his new team couldn’t have come at a better time, as his go-ahead solo shot sent the West Michigan Whitecaps to a 5-3 win over the Lansing Lugnuts on Friday night at Jackson Field.
Johnson, who joined the ‘Caps roster
LANSING, MI – Outfielder Dom Johnson’s first home run with his new team couldn’t have come at a better time, as his go-ahead solo shot sent the West Michigan Whitecaps to a 5-3 win over the Lansing Lugnuts on Friday night at Jackson Field.
Johnson, who joined the ‘Caps roster on June 26, blasted the first pitch in the top of the ninth inning over the center field wall – his first home run with the team – to give West Michigan a 4-3 lead. The win keeps the Whitecaps holding a 1.5-game lead over the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the Midwest League Eastern Division with eight games remaining.
The Whitecaps opened the scoring when Izaac Pacheco blasted a solo home run in the second inning – his 10th home run of the season and fifth against the Lugnuts this year to take a 1-0 lead. The bottom of the frame saw Lansing score all three of their runs as C.J. Rodriguez ripped a two-run triple before Euribiel Angeles added a run-scoring double to give Lansing a 3-1 lead. The following two innings saw the ‘Caps tally single runs as Gage Workman launched a solo shot in the third before Austin Murr collected a game-tying RBI-single to knot the contest at three. The score remained the same until the ninth when Johnson blasted the solo shot – his first homer since June 3 when he played for the Lakeland Flying Tigers — and the ‘Caps added an insurance run when Luke Gold blasted Murr with a groundout to extend the lead to 5-3. Gabe Sequeira entered for the final frame and got all three Lugnuts out in the ninth to earn his sixth save of the season and send the ‘Caps to victory on Friday.
The Whitecaps record moves to 65-57 overall and 33-24 in the second half, while the Lugnuts fall to 57-66 and 26-32 in the second half. Pitcher Troy Melton started for West Michigan, giving up three runs in four innings before Wilkel Hernandez and Trevin Michael (5-4) tossed two scoreless frames in relief, with Michael getting his fifth win. Lansing righty Jake Garland (3-9) dominated for five innings but allowed both ninth-inning runs in taking his ninth loss of the year. The ‘Caps blasted three home runs in the ballgame and now hold 98 total round-trippers on the season – just three away from breaking the franchise record of 101 set in 2022. Pacheco reached base three times in the victory and now has seven of his 13 career Whitecaps home runs against the ‘Nuts.
UP NEXT
This series at Jackson Field between the Whitecaps and Lansing Lugnuts continues Friday at 7:05 pm. Carlos Pena takes the mound for West Michigan and the Lugnuts Gunnar Hoglund. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2023 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.