‘Caps Watch Dayton Walk to Series Split
DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps allowed a season-high 13 walks and were forced to settle for a series split at Day Air Ballpark as part of a 10-4 loss to the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,814 fans on Sunday afternoon. West Michigan watched starting pitcher Rayner Castillo
DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps allowed a season-high 13 walks and were forced to settle for a series split at Day Air Ballpark as part of a 10-4 loss to the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,814 fans on Sunday afternoon.
West Michigan watched starting pitcher Rayner Castillo struggle through his only inning, walking the first three batters he faced before deferring to a bullpen that had been used heavily throughout the week. The previous high for walks issued by West Michigan in a contest was set on May 27 with nine in a 6-5 win at Lansing.
West Michigan opened the scoring in the first when shortstop Bryce Rainer launched his second home run in as many days – this time an opposite field shot to left field for a two-run homer and a 2-0 ‘Caps lead. On Saturday, the Detroit Tigers No. 2 Prospect collected the Whitecaps longest homer of the season when Rainer smashed a 471-foot three-run shot off the right-center field light tower as part of West Michigan’s 8-1 win in the first game of a doubleheader. The bottom of the frame saw the Dragons chase Whitecaps starting pitcher Rayner Castillo, who walked the first three batters he faced in running up his pitch count too high to finish the frame, forcing the ‘Caps bullpen to pick up the remainder of the contest. Infielder Peyton Stovall’s two-run single plated two of Castillo’s free passes and tied the contest at two. While the Whitecaps pitching staff battled wildness in the early frames, a two-run go-ahead double by Carter Graham put Dayton on top, 4-2, before tallying two more by taking advantage of a pair of Whitecaps errors to extend their lead to 6-2. ‘Caps outfielder Stephen Hrustich launched his second homer in as many days with a two-run shot in the fourth to help pull West Michigan to a two-run deficit and bring the score to 6-4. The Dragons countered with a solo shot by outfielder Ariel Almonte in the fifth to move ahead by a score of 7-4. In the eighth, the Dragons took advantage of more Whitecaps wildness to the tune of three more runs, highlighted by a two-run single from Alfredo Alcantara to conclude the scoring and send the Dragons to the series split.
The Whitecaps settle for three wins in six games and leave Dayton with a second-half record of 6-3 and 30-43 overall, while the Dragons move to 4-4 in the second half and 43-31 on the season. Kyle McCoy (4-1) struck out ten batters in 4.2 innings, but it was lefty Graham Osman (1-1) who retired the only batter he faced in earning his first win of the season, while reliever Jalen Evans (2-3) allowed two runs in 1.1 innings in taking his third loss of the year. Jimmy Romano tossed a scoreless 2.1 innings out of the bullpen to collect his second save in the series and fourth save of the season. First baseman Clayton Campbell was the only Whitecap with a multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 in a losing cause.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps return home for a six-game series against the Lake County Captains – Midwest League affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians beginning Tuesday night at 6:35pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.