TinCaps Baseball: Caps Lock Down Home Field [VIDEO]
FORT WAYNE – The TinCaps came from behind in the bottom of the eighth inning to beat the Great Lakes Loons (Los Angeles Dodgers), 5-2, on Friday night at Parkview Field. With the win, Fort Wayne now knows for sure it will have a home-field advantage in the opening round of the Midwest League Playoffs next week.
While the TinCaps (41-26, 67-70) await to find out whether their first-round opponent will be Bowling Green or South Bend, they know for certain they’ll be at Parkview Field for Game 2 of the best-of-three series on Thursday, Sept. 7 (7:05 p.m.). If necessary, Game 3 will be at Parkview Field as well on Friday, Sept. 8 (7:05 p.m.). Game 1 of the series will take place in either Bowling Green or South Bend on Wednesday.
Tickets for the Midwest League Playoffs at Parkview Field are on sale at TinCapsTickets.com and by calling 260-482-6400 or visiting the ballpark’s Ticket Office during regular business hours.
With Great Lakes (31-36, 67-69) leading 2-1, Fort Wayne center fielder Buddy Reed helped lift his team to victory in its regular season home finale with a two-out, three-run home run that he pulled high and deep down the right-field line. Reed’s homer, his sixth of the season, came off James Carter, who hadn’t allowed an earned run through his first 12 2/3 innings in the league this season. Reed hit the homer on a 1-2 pitch after fouling off four consecutive pitches.
As the crowd of 6,331 was still buzzing, second baseman Reinaldo Ilarraza followed with a home run of his own to right that made it 5-2. Jumping up and down, teammates greeted him at the dugout steps.
Fort Wayne’s comeback bid in the eighth began against Evy Ruibal (L) with an RBI single from designated hitter G.K. Young that scored third baseman Hudson Potts, who had singled earlier in the frame. First baseman Kyle Overstreet followed Potts with a walk and came in on Reed’s homer with Young.
Meanwhile, the Loons scored two (only one earned) in the top of the first inning and were blanked after that. TinCaps Pedro Avila struck out nine over the first five innings. Jim McDade worked a perfect sixth with a strikeout and then 19-year-old Cuban lefty Osvaldo Hernandez (W) spun three clean frames with five strikeouts.
The TinCaps went 23-12 at Parkview Field in the second half en route to earning a playoff spot. Friday marked the 12th time since the All-Star break Fort Wayne overcame a deficit of at least two runs to win.