BELOIT — Beloit Sky Carp manager Billy Gardner Jr. and catcher Sam Praytor were in agreement: starter Trenton Denholm and the Lake County Captains’ bullpen were good, but not shut-down-your-lineup good.
Yet that’s exactly what Denholm and relievers Zach Jacobs and Allan Hernandez did as the trio combined to allow just two hits and four walks while striking out 13 in the Captains’ 5-3 win over the Sky Carp in front of a crowd of 1,107 at a warm and sunny ABC Supply Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
So, that outcome left Gardner and Praytor to determine that the squad needs to be working better at-bats.
“It was definitely not ideal,” Praytor said. “We just couldn’t get things going. It's hard to win when you only have two hits, but that’s just how it went today. (Denhom) did a good job, but we definitely could have put together some better at bats."
Gardner said that he didn’t want to take anything away from the Captains, who are in first place in the Midwest League East at 34-23, but added that his team didn’t do themselves any favors.
“They’re a really good team,” he said. “They have a lot of length out of their lineup, there’s no breaks in it. We just haven't hit enough. Too many strikeouts, not moving the ball, things like that. We have to get better.”
The setback helped the Captains take the six-game series 4-2. Beloit falls to 25-31 and is in fourth place in the Midwest League West.
Lake County leadoff hitter Angel Genao took the first pitch of the game and sent it well over the center-field wall for a solo homer off starter Ike Buxton.
But Buxton settled in afterwards as he retired the next six-straight Captains’ batters. Johnny Tincher and Jonah Advincula both singled to lead off the third but a pop out and an Alex Mooney double play prevented any runs from coming across.
“(Lake County) came out swinging,” Gardner said. “They ambushed (Buxton). But, he really started to mix much better. Instead of just pounding his fastball, he started to pitch. (We have) to make a couple of plays during that one inning behind Buxton, that hurt.”
That inning came after Buxton threw a 1-2-3 fourth. Jose Devers reached after his groundout got under shortstop Johnny Olmstead’s glove. Guy Lipscomb doubled to right before a strikeout and a pop out looked like it was going to get Buxton out of the inning.
Instead, third baseman Josh Zamora couldn’t get a handle on a hard-hit single by Genao, which scored Devers and tied it at two.
Maick Collado had a one-out double to right in the sixth and moved to third on a wild pitch before Jake Fox was hit by a pitch. Devers then hit an RBI single past a diving Zamora and Lipscomb sent a one-run single into shallow right field to make it 4-2.
“Ike did a great job,” Praytor said. “All of his stuff looked great. His changeup was really on today. I hate that we couldn't get a win for him.”
Buxton finished with four runs (three earned) on eight hits with four strikeouts.
Edgar Sanchez came in to relieve Buxton and worked around a walk to get two strikeouts. He threw a 1-2-3 seventh and Josh Ekness worked a scoreless eighth.
“Those two have electric stuff, to say the least,” Praytor said. “Filled up the zone, used multiple pitches, everything was looking good. They did their job, for sure.”
But Beloit couldn’t build a rally as Zamora was stranded after a two-out walk in the eighth and Jake DeLeo was left on third to end the game after he reached on a throwing error and went to third on two separate wild pitches.
Carlos Santiago blasted a two-run homer to right in the third to give Beloit a 2-1 lead after Praytor had walked.
“There was a lot of wind and he caught one, got up in the air and out and gave us a big boost,” Gardner said.
Beloit had a chance to add on in the fourth when Torin Montgomery doubled with one out and Santiago walked an out later before Jorge Caballero grounded into a forceout.
Denholm went five innings and allowed two earned runs on two hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Jacobs allowed no base runners and struck out five in two scoreless innings while Hernandez allowed an unearned run and a walk in two frames.
“To me, (Denhom) was nothing special,” Gardner said. “The guys they brought up after him were pretty good. We needed to get to their starter, and we just didn't.”
Beloit has Monday off before beginning a six-game series in Quad Cities against the River Bandits.
“Take what you didn't do well this week, figure out what you need to work on and then just flush it,” Praytor said. “Go out and have a positive mindset next week.
• NOTES: On Sunday, the Sky Carp were celebrating taking on the identity of Las Paletas de Beloit as part of Copa de la Diversion, Minor League Baseball’s incentive to connect with the Latino community. Beloit were special jerseys, had Latin-themed activities in between innings and played Hispanic music throughout the night.
• SATURDAY’S RECAP: Devers’ two-run single in the ninth inning broke a 3-all tie in the ninth and helped the Captains win 5-3 in front of a sellout crowd of 3,802 celebrating E.R.A. Night, where Taylor Swift-themed activities and music were prevalent throughout the game and one lucky fan won two tickets to her show in Indianapolis.
DeLeo had a two-run double to tie it in the fifth and No. 1 prospect Nobel Meyer allowed three earned runs on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 4 1-3 innings.
• FRIDAY’S RECAP: A bases-loaded walk by Advincula in the second and a one-run single from Mooney in the fifth proved to be all of the offense needed as Matt Wilkinson threw five scoreless innings to help Lake County win 2-0.
Cameron Barstad and Osiris Johnson went 2-for-3 but the Sky Carp went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Thomas White allowed two earned runs on three hits with eight strikeouts in 4 1-3 innings tossed.
• BOXSCORE:
CAPTAINS 5, SKY CARP 3
LC 100 012 001 — 5 11 2
Beloit 002 000 001 — 3 2 1
LC (ab-r-h-rbi) — Genao, ss, 5-1-2-2, Mooney, 3b, 5-1-1-0, Ingle, dh, 4-0-0-0, Collado, 1b, 5-1-2-0, Fox, rf, 4-1-1-1, Devers, 2b, 5-1-1-1, Lipscomb, lf, 4-0-2-1, Tincher, c, 3-0-1-0, Advincula, cf, 3-0-1-0. Totals: 38-5-11-5.
BELOIT (ab-r-h-rbi) — Coley, cf, 4-0-0-0, Olmstead, ss, 4-0-0-0, Zamora, 3b, 2-0-0-0, Barstad, dh, 4-0-0-0, DeLeo, rf, 4-1-0-0, Montgomery, 1b, 4-0-1-0, Praytor, c, 3-1-0-1, Santiago, 2b, 3-1-1-2, Caballero, lf, 3-0-0-0. Totals: 31-3-2-3.
E: Genao, Mooney, Olmstead. DP: LC 0, Beloit 1. SB: Lipscomb (15), Mooney (19). LOB: LC 10, Beloit 5. 2B: Lipscomb, Collado, Mooney, Fox, Montgomery. HR: Genao (1), Santiago (4). .
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-so): LC, Denholm (W,7-1,5.0-2-2-2-3-6), Jacobs (2.0-0-0-0-0-5), Hernandez (S,2,2.0-0-1-0-1-2). Beloit, Buxton (L,1-5,5.1-8-4-3-0-4), Sanchez (1.2-1-0-0-1-2), Ekness (1.0-0-0-0-1-0), Meachem (1.0-2-1-1-1-1).
WP: Hernandez 2, Buxton. HBP: Fox (by Buxton). T: 2:20. Att: 1,107.
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