The Captains struggled against the Whitecaps starting pitching on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday’s starter, Trevor Feeney, held Lake County scoreless in six innings, giving up three hits and one walk while striking out three. Saturday West Michigan started Jacob Turner, the Tigers’ first round pick in 2009, and in an impressive professional debut held the Captains scoreless in five innings pitched. He surrendered two hits, walked none and struck out 7.
The Captains’ starting pitching, though, struggled in the Thursday and Saturday games. Returning right hander Trey Haley, the Indians second round pick in 2008, earned the honor of pitching the opening game. Haley, who struggled through much of last season, showed that he’s still a raw, but talented pitcher, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits, including a two run homer. On Saturday, another retuning right hander Danny Salazar, started for the Captains and struggled as well. Salazar went five innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. Salazar also surrendered a two run homer.
Friday’s game also featured a professional debut, this time by Captains’ right hander Joe Gardner, and he made a spectacular entrance to professional baseball leading the Captains to a 7-1 victory. He pitched four innings, giving up one earned run on three hits while walking two and most impressively in the twelve outs recorded eleven of them were strikeouts. However, it came at a price as he was only able to pitch four innings and he ended up with a no-decision. At the Low-A level, since starters are on a 75-pitch count it often prevents them from pitching the required five innings to earn a victory, so fans should keep that mind when looking at starting pitcher’s win/lost record.
Although the Captains were stymied by two West Michigan starters, the Captains battered the Whitecaps bullpen by scoring 13 of their 17 runs in the opening series against the West Michigan relief corps. First basemen Ben Carlson lead the way with 4 hits in two games, including a double and triple, ending the homestand with a 1.232 OPS. 1B/DH Adam Abraham, another returnee from 2009, banged out 4 hits in the series, including a double and a solo homerun. Roberto Perez smacked a double in the bottom of the tenth of Thursday’s game to drive in Bo Greenwell with the winning run. SS Kyle Smith made an impressive debut with the Captains batting .333 with an .833 OPS. RF Greg Folgia had a Dave Kingman-like start to his Captains career with 2 hits in 10 at bats, but both hits were home runs. The Captains also showed some team speed, as Greenwell stole 3 bases in the homestand, while CF Delvi Cid and 2B Argenis Martinez each stole a pair.
Despite the difficulties with the Captains' starting pitching, the bullpen did a terrific job. On Thursday, Chris Jones pitched three scoreless innings in relief of Haley, surrendering only one hit while striking out six and walking one. Francisco Jimenez also threw three scoreless and hitless innings, striking out two and walking one to gain the victory. On Friday, reliever Rob Bryson made a strong debut after a year and a half on the disabled list as he threw two innings striking out 3 and giving up one hit to get the win. Right hander Antwonie Hubbard followed Bryson, making his Captains debut by pitching three scoreless innings to get his first save.
On Saturday, the bullpen continued its strong performance when Nick Sarianides, a right hander who briefly pitched for Lake County at the end of 2009, came on to relieve starter Salazar. Sarianides held the Whitecaps scoreless in 2.2 innings to earn the win. Cory Burns, a right hander who saved 11 games last year for Mahoning Valley, came on with one out in the bottom of the eighth and then had a Bob Wickman-type 9th, giving up a run, but ultimately earning his first save of the year.
Sweeping a series is always an impressive feat, and the Captains showed some timely hitting, along with good baserunning, team speed and a strong bullpen to win three in a row over the Michigan Whitecaps. The starting pitching, though, could be a cause for concern at this early point of the season.
The Captains make their first road trip of the year with three games in South Bend and three games against Lansing before returning home on Saturday, April 17 to face the Ft. Wayne Tin Caps.
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