Lugnuts outpace Hot Rods, 8-5

LANSING, Mich. – The Lansing Lugnuts (36-29) jumped on Aaron Dott for eight runs in the first three innings, racing off for an 8-5 win over the Bowling Green Hot Rods (29-37) on Wednesday night on Jackson Field.
Despite the victory, a Great Lakes win over South Bend eliminated the Lugnuts from Eastern Division playoff contention.
The Lugnuts battered Dott (1-3) with 10 hits, tallying four runs in the first inning, one in the second inning, and three more runs in the third. The Bowling Green starter was coming off an outing in which he had allowed only one hit in five innings at Wisconsin.
The early offense was enough to earn a victory for Dave Sever (2-3), who gave up three runs on seven hits over five innings.
Still, the triumph did not come easily for Lansing.
The Hot Rods pared the deficit to three runs on Ryan Wiegand's two-run single in the sixth, and then loaded the bases in the ninth before Casey Beck struck out pinch-hitter Kyle Spraker and coaxed a game-ending forceout from Ty Morrison.
Beck picked up his second save of the season.
The Lugnuts offense was led by three-hit efforts from Kevin Ahrens and Ryan Goins, with Ahrens adding three RBIs. All-Star catcher A.J. Jimenez chipped in with his fourth home run of the year.
Lansing right-hander Chad Jenkins (5-4, 3.51) caps off the four-game homestand on a 7:05 p.m. Labatt Blue Light Thirsty Thursday, challenging Hot Rods right-hander Jason McEachern (2-6, 5.03).
The Nuts return home on Tuesday, June 15th, for a doubleheader against the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Tickets to all Lansing Lugnuts home games are available for purchase online at www.lansinglugnuts.com, at the stadium box office, and by calling 517-485-4500.

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Lansing Lugnuts Baseball
Cooley Law School Stadium
505 E. Michigan Ave., Lansing, MI 48912
Phone: 517.485.4500; Fax: 517.485.4518
info@lansinglugnuts.com

Checking In On The Farm

Triple-A Las Vegas (12-12) accomplished the difficult feat yesterday of compiling 17 hits and three walks... but scoring only five runs (four in the ninth) in an 11-5 loss. The 51s now have a .294 batting average as a team, paced by 2B Jarrett Hoffpauir (.345). Meanwhile, 1B Brett Wallace continues to lead the Pacific Coast League with nine home runs.

Good news from Double-A where the first place New Hampshire Fisher Cats (16-7) are on fire, winners of six in a row. C Brian Jeroloman's batting .350 with a league-leading .458 on-base percentage; OF Eric Thames has 20 RBIs, second in the league; and speedy OF Darin Mastroianni leads the league with 12 stolen bases. I should mention, too, the terrific performance by 2B/3B Brad Emaus (.326, 2 HR, 16 RBIs, 15 walks and just two strikeouts in 14 games).

Yesterday the Cats were tied 5-5 with Reading in the fifth inning -- and then received a grand slam from Callix Crabbe amidst a seven-run explosion. New Hampshire cruised to the 16-5 rout.

In Dunedin (14-9), immensely talented 20-year-old Henderson Alvarez has only allowed one earned run in four starts (24 1/3 innings). He's 3-0 with a 0.37 ERA. Joel Carreno leads the team with 34 strikeouts, including 10 in six innings in a win at Tampa on April 27.

At Single-A, the Lansing Lugnuts' (14-10) six-game winning streak (including the first victory for 2009 1st round pick Chad Jenkins) came to an end on Thursday night. Two nights later, some history in Lansing: the 1,000th win in the franchise's history, thanks to a walk-off blow from sparkplug outfielder Chris Hopkins.

Unfortunately, perhaps the main early headline has been injuries to some promising players. Kenny Rodriguez is DL'd in New Hampshire, Travis D'Arnaud is on the shelf in Dunedin, and Matt Fields, Dave Sever, and Mark Sobolewski have all been sidelined in Lansing. Nothing looks serious as of yet, but it's worth keeping an eye on.