Jenkins, Lugnuts steamroll Fort Wayne, 9-4

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Chad Jenkins allowed two runs in seven innings and the Lansing Lugnuts (17-12) rolled up 16 hits in a 9-4 victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps (13-15) on a rainy Friday night at Parkview Field.
The victorious Jenkins (2-2) had been 0-2 with a 5.91 ERA in two 2010 starts against the TinCaps, but turned around those statistics with a dominating performance. The right-hander struck out six batters while allowing only a Nate Freiman two-run homer in the fourth inning.
The Lugnuts offense took care of the rest, knocking out Fort Wayne starter Mike Watt (2-2) after just 2 1/3 innings, seven hits and five runs.
It could have been worse for Watt and the five relievers to follow him to the mound: Lansing stranded 15 runners on base.
The Lugnuts were led by a four-hit performance by 9th-place hitter Chris Hopkins, with three-hit nights chipped in by Balbino Fuenmayor and Sean Ochinko.
The Lugnuts and TinCaps play the middle affair in their three-game series at 4:05 p.m. Saturday afternoon. Lansing right-hander Ryan Tepera (2-1, 5.13) takes on TinCaps right-hander Dexter Carter (1-3, 4.68) in the starting pitching matchup.
The Nuts return home on Monday, May 10, for a three-game series with the West Michigan Whitecaps.