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)
Sunday, July 24 — Pohlman Field — First Pitch 3:00 p.m. — Game 99
LAST NIGHT: Fort Wayne and Beloit were rained out.
HALL OF FAME CONNECTION: TinCaps pitching coach Burt Hooton was in the same position for the Double-A San Antonio Missions in 1992 when the Dodgers affiliate had a catcher named Mike Piazza, who today is being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, along with Ken Griffey Jr.
MWL HALL OF FAMERS: 7 Hall of Famers have played in the Midwest League. They are… Orlando Cepeda (Kokomo, 1955), Juan Marichal (Michigan City, 1958), Carlton Fisk (Waterloo, 1968), Rich Gossage (Appleton, 1970-71), Bruce Sutter (Quincy, 1973), Paul Molitor (Burlington, 1977), and Greg Maddux (Peoria, 1985).
ROSTER MOVE: INF/OF Kodie Tidwell has been placed on the Disabled List while San Diego has added INF/OF Tyler Selesky to the roster from the Rookie-level Peoria Padres. (See Page 4 for more.)
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-gamer to begin the season.
BIG BRAD BASHES: First baseman Brad Zunica is second in the MWL lin home runs with 13. The 20-year-old does lead the league in HR/AB, going deep once every 21.85 at-bats this season. That ratio is even higher in the second half, in which he’s launched 7 long balls.
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 games.
QUIET LEADER: Utilityman Nick Vilter, who walked twice and was hit by a pitch on Friday, has the highest OBP (.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: Friday’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.
BACK AT PARKVIEW FIELD: Today is the 98.9 The Bear Birthday Bash featuring performances by Shinedown, Halestorm, Red Sun Rising, Devour the Day, and the Bear House Band.
