TinCaps Baseball: Tatis Jr. The Hero Again
FORT WAYNE – One night after scoring the game-winner, shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. drove home the decisive run to help the TinCaps topple the West Michigan Whitecaps, 3-2, at Parkview Field on Wednesday in front of a sell-out crowd of 7,071.
This marked Parkview Field’s third sellout of the season, as well as the first time Fort Wayne has won consecutive games this season, and the team’s first series victory. (The TinCaps fell to the Whitecaps, 3-2, in 13 innings on Monday.)
In the bottom of the eighth inning, designated hitter Hudson Potts ripped a two-out single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tatis laced a line drive into left-center to score Potts.
West Michigan (6-7) threatened in the ninth, but Ben Sheckler (W) induced a double play and another ground ball to seal the Fort Wayne win.
Sheckler pitched two innings of scoreless relief. TinCaps (5-8) starter Jesse Scholtens ceded two runs over seven innings, striking out five batters.
Potts finished the afternoon 2-for-4 with the late single and an RBI triple that plated right fielder Jorge Oña. Catcher Marcus Greene Jr. scored the other run for the TinCaps following his double in the fifth inning.
Cam Gibson accounted for both West Michigan runs. Fernando Perez (L) threw 3.1 innings in relief but allowed Tatis’ game-winning hit. Whitecaps starter Kyle Funkhouser struck out nine over 4.2 frames of work.