Fort Wayne TinCaps (13-11) vs. Clinton LumberKings (15-8)
RHP Jacob Nix (0-0, 3.86 ERA) vs. LHP Nick Wells (1-3, 7.11 ERA)
Monday, May 2, 2016 — Ashford University Field — First Pitch 7:30 p.m. — Game 25
ABOUT YESTERDAY: After Saturday’s rain forced a Sunday doubleheader, the TinCaps and Bees split the twin bill, as Fort Wayne took the 3-game series. Burlington held the TinCaps to 2 hits in its 1-0 win in game 1. RHPs Elliot Ashbeck (5 IP)and Nick Monroe (2 IP) combined to quiet the Bees in the second game, a 3-1 TinCaps win.
PINPOINT PITCHING: TinCaps pitchers didn’t issue a single walk over Sunday’s pair of 7-inning games. Dating back to Friday’s series-opening win over Burlington, Fort Wayne hasn’t walked an opposing batter in 19.1 innings. In that same span, TinCaps pitchers have piled up 23 strikeouts, highlighted by a season-best 9 from Sunday’s game 1 starter, Brett Kennedy.
INDIVIDUAL LEAGUE LEADERS: TinCaps lead the MWL in…
· Batting: Austin Allen (.462) — 1st in MiLB
· On-Base Percentage: Austin Allen (.544) — 1st in MiLB
· On-Base Plus Slugging: Austin Allen (1.144) — 4th in MiLB
· RBIs: Ty France (19)
· Walks: Ty France (19) — Tied for 3rd in MiLB
· Stolen Bases: Michael Gettys (12) — Tied for 6th in MiLB
· WHIP: Elliot Ashbeck (0.57) — 4th in MiLB
TIMELY TY: All 4 of Ty France’s RBIs against Burlington came with 2 outs. Seven of the corner infielder’s league-leading 19 RBIs have come with 2 outs. In Friday’s come-from-behind 7-5 win over the Bees, the TinCaps scored 6 runs in the 7th inning, and all came with 2 outs.
CLINTON CONNECTIONS: TinCaps reliever Nick Monroe and LumberKings starter Zack Littell were teammates at Eastern Alamance High School in Mebane, North Carolina (near Durham). Close friends, the tandem starred at the top of the Eagles’ rotation. Littell would play catcher when Monroe was pitching and then pitch the next game. Littell was drafted out of high school in 2013 by the Mariners in the 11th round. Monroe was selected by the Padres in the 21st round in June after 3 seasons at UNC Wilmington.
TinCaps hitting coach Lance Burkhart played in 3 games with the LumberKings in 2003. At the time, Burkhart, a catcher, was in the Texas Rangers’ organization. Burkhart was rehabbing an injury and then went up to Double-A Frisco.
TinCaps manager Anthony Contreras, 32,and LumberKings manager Mitch Canham, 31were teammates together in the Padres’ organization in ’09 and ’10 with Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Portland.
