Fort Wayne TinCaps (9-19, 45-53) @ Beloit Snappers (12-16, 44-53)
RHP Jake Nix (1-4, 4.00) vs. RHP Boomer Biegalski (6-4, 3.11)
Saturday, July 23 — Pohlman Field — First Pitch 8:00 p.m. — Game 99
LAST NIGHT: Fort Wayne lost to Wisconsin, 8-7. The TinCaps trailed by 4 runs before rallying with 3 runs in the ninth, but the tying run was stranded on base.
HOT GIRON: Shortstop Ruddy Giron provided 2 hits, including a double, on Friday, extending his current hitting streak to 5 games and his on-base streak to 15 games. His batting average now is as high as it’s been since April 19 — up 26 points over this hot stretch.
ALL-EN THE WAY UP: Catcher Austin Allen delivered a single Friday to hit safely for a ninth straight game. It’s his longest hitting streak since he had an 11-game to begin the season.
BIG BRAD BASHES: First baseman Brad Zunica is tied for the Midwest League lead in home runs with 13. The 20-year-old has averaged a homer once every 21.77 at-bats this season, although that ratio is even higher in the second half, in which he’s launched 7 long balls. (Fort Wayne’s franchise home run record is 20 — set by Jake Patterson in 1997.)
GREENE JR. JOLTS OFFENSE: Catcher/DH Marcus Greene Jr. had his second consecutive 3-hit game with a homer on Friday. This is after he hadn’t had a multi-hit performance in his first 29 games of the season. He’s increased his average by 114 points the last 2 days.
QUIET LEADER: Utilityman Nick Vilter, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch on Friday, has the highest on-base percentage (.380) on Fort Wayne’s current roster. He doesn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify as a league-leader, but he’d be in the top 10 if he did.
LOOONG GAMES: Last night’s 3 hour, 33-minute game was Fort Wayne’s sixth consecutive contest that went at least 3 hours and 7 minutes. The last 10 TinCaps games have gone an average of 3 hours and 22 minutes.
AROUND THE LEAGUE: If you think the TinCaps have been playing long games of late (and, yes, they have), then get a load of this: Last night the West Michigan Whitecaps and Peoria Chiefs played a 6 hour, 2-minute, 15-inning game that ended in a 9-9 tie in Comstock Park, Mich. The game ended that way because of a league 1 a.m. curfew and the fact that West Michigan and Peoria don’t play again this season. The game featured a combined 48 hits — a MWL record.
BACK AT PARKVIEW FIELD: Today is K105 Country Fest featuring Lee Brice, Jon Pardi, Clare Dunn, Drew Baldridge, Jordan Rager, and LANco. Tomorrow, Parkview Field will host the 98.9 The Bear Birthday Bash with Shinedown, Halestorm, Red Sun Rising, Devour the Day, and the Bear House Band.
