Fort Wayne TinCaps (2-0, 38-34) @ Bowling Green Hot Rods (0-2, 37-34)

RHP Austin Smith (1-5, 5.92) vs. RHP Blake Bivens (3-1, 4.50)

Saturday, June 25 — Bowling Green Ballpark — First Pitch 7:35 p.m. (EST) — Game 73

LAST NIGHT: The TinCaps beat Bowling Green, 10-5, in a game they led 9-0 halfway through. Fort Wayne put up 2 runs in the first and exploded for 7 in the 5th. All nine TinCap batters reached base, with 8 tallying at least 1 hit. Starting pitcher Jerry Keel limited the Hot Rods to 1 run across 5 innings.

MASSIVE INNING: The TinCaps tallied 7 runs in the 5th inning — their highest output in a frame this season. Fort Wayne also matched a season high with 6 hits in that inning.

HOME RUN DERBY: The TinCaps also matched a season high with 3 home runs in a game for the second time this year — all of them came in the 5th.It was the firs time Fort Wayne hit 3 homers in an inning since July 29, 2015.

BACK-TO-BACK: During the 5th-inning derby, both Brad Zunica and Jhonatan Peña homered for a second consecutive day. Previously this season, Zunica was the only TinCap to have homered in back-to-back games when he did so on April 9 and 10. On Friday, Zunica’s homer followed one from Ty France, marking Fort Wayne’s first back-to-back home runs since Aug. 16, 2015.

HOME IS WHERE THE WINS AIN’T: In the 9 meetings between the TinCaps and Hot Rods this season, the home team has yet to win. This is odd considering that Fort Wayne is 20-11 in home games against opponents other than Bowling Green, and the Hot Rods are 19-12 at home against everyone other than the TinCaps.

TIDWELL TAKES OVER: After singling twice, doubling, and walking on Friday, Kodie Tidwell has now reached base in 30 consecutive games dating back to May 13. This is the longest active streak in all of baseball (Single-A, Double-A, Triple-A, and MLB) and tied for the longest such streak in the MWL this year. (BG’s Jake Cronenworth reached in 30 straight to start the season; LaMonte Wade of Cedar Rapids also had a 30-game streak from April 20-May 30.) Tidwell has hit safely in 25 of these games (7 multi-hit efforts), posting a .289 batting average with 19 runs, 8 doubles, a triple, 2 homers, and 11 RBIs. He’s walked 20 times, been hit by a pitch, and stolen 5 bases. Over the stretch his on-base percentage is .400 and is slugging .430. At the start of the streak, Tidwell wasn’t a regular in the lineup. Across the 30 games, he’s played second, third, short, left, right, and DH-ed.

AMONG THE BEST: Austin Allen’s .324 average is 6th highest in the MWL… J.C. Cosme’s 7 Ws are tied for 3rd… Ty France has been hit by a league-high 15 pitches (3rd most in all of MiLB)… He’s 3rd in walks (41) and 5th in OBP (.396).