Fort Wayne TinCaps (10-22) vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods (21-14)
LHP Thomas Dorminy (2-3, 6.00) vs. RHP Enderson Franco (3-1, 3.21)
Saturday, May 16, 2015 — Bowling Green Ballpark (Bowling Green, KY) — First Pitch 8:05 p.m. — Game 33
ABOUT LAST GAME: Fort Wayne lost 3-2 on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Bowling Green. The TinCaps tallied two solo home runs to account for their offense, but the Hot Rods broke a 2-2 tie in the seventh.
BETTER DAYS: The last time the TinCaps were in Bowling Green was Labor Day Weekend 2014. Fort Wayne needed to sweep the Hot Rods in order to win the MWL East Division’s second-half wild card, and that’s exactly what the TinCaps accomplished. After rain postponed a Saturday night game on Aug. 30, the TinCaps took two games on the 31st and then won 4-0 on Labor Day. Josh VanMeter drove in all four runs. He broke a scoreless tie in the seventh with a three-run homer off the scoreboard in right field. Ironically, Bowling Green Ballpark has a new playground on the concourse that is sponsored by Van Meter Insurance Group. On the current Fort Wayne roster, only Franmil Reyes, Henry Charles, Yimmi Brasoban, and Colby Blueberg were present for that celebration.
COMMONWEALTH CONNECTION: Left-handed reliever Kyle McGrath is a native of Louisville who then started his collegiate career at Eastern Kentucky (2011) before transferring to the University of Louisville (2012-14). McGrath is familiar with Bowling Green as his sister Kaitlyn went to Western Kentucky University.
SANTOS FINDS POWER: First baseman Trae Santos homered Friday for the fourth time this season and the third time in the last five days. Santos’ power production through 30 games has already matched his home run total in 2014 when he played in 49 games for Short-Season A Eugene. Santos regularly woke up at 4:30 a.m. to work out during the offseason in Alabama and lost about 50 pounds.
DUANEL DOES IT AGAIN: Third baseman Duanel Jones tied Bowling Green’s Casey Gillaspie for the MWL-lead in home runs on Friday night when he hit his sixth of the season. With 26 RBIs, Jones ranks second in the league in that category. When Jones played for the TinCaps in 2012, he hit five home runs in 113 games.
