Fort Wayne TinCaps (14-26) @ Lansing Lugnuts (25-18)
RHP Michael Kelly (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Conner Greene (3-2, 5.00)
Sunday, May 24, 2015 — Cooley Law School Stadium (Lansing, Mich.) — First Pitch 2:05 p.m. — Game 41
ABOUT LAST GAME: Fort Wayne lost, 10-1, in the second game of its four-game set at Lansing. The Lugnuts scored seven of their runs on three home runs — two of which came during a five-run fifth inning that turned a 3-0 affair into an 8-0 route.
ROSTER MOVE: The Padres transferred left-handed pitcher Griffin Russell from Fort Wayne back to Extended Spring Training today. Russell had only joined the TinCaps on Friday. He threw 2 1/3 scoreless innings on Saturday. The move makes space for today’s starting pitcher right-hander Michael Kelly, who, in turn, has been added to the active roster. For more on Kelly, see Page 2.
MOVIE-LIKE START: Rudy Girron hasn’t just hit safely in each of his first six games with the TinCaps since joining the club Monday, he’s had multiple hits in five of them. The 18-year-old went 3-for-4 Saturday to raise his average to .552.
JONESING FOR HITS: Duanel Jones collected three hits Saturday — his fourth game this season with three or more hits. He now leads the team with a .307 batting average, while also leading the team in home runs (7) and RBIs (32). In fact, Jones is tied for the league lead with those 7 HR and tops the MWL with 32 RBIs.
STRONG ARMS: Nick Torres threw out Lansing’s Rowdy Tellez at the plate in the fifth inning Saturday for his second outfield assist of the year. Jose Ruiz caught Richard Ureña stealing in the third. He’s thrown out 20 runners this season — tops among MWL catchers.
ALUMNI REPORT: 2012 TinCaps shortstop Jace Peterson had a walk-off single for the Braves on Saturday against the Milwaukee Brewers. The 25-year-old’s 11th-inning single was the first walk-off hit of his MLB career and gave Atlanta a 3-2 win. After making his big-league debut with the Padres last April, Peterson was part of the deal that brought Justin Upton to San Diego in December. Peterson was an All-Star in ’12 as he helped lead FW to the MWL Championship Series. He hit .286 with 2 home runs and 48 RBIs in 117 games.