Fort Wayne TinCaps (18-28 – 7th, 54-62) vs. Bowling Green Hot Rods (31-14 – 1st, 68-46)
RHP Emmanuel Ramirez (1-0, 4.75) vs. RHP Tyler Brashears (6-0, 1.93)
Friday, Aug. 12— Parkview Field — First Pitch 7:05 p.m. — Game 117
LAST NIGHT: Fort Wayne dropped the series opener to Bowling Green, 7-2.
ALLEN’S HISTORIC HITTING STREAK: Catcher Austin Allen didn’t start on Thursday night, but entered the game in the fifth inning as a defensive replacement for an injured Marcus Greene Jr. In his first at-bat in the home fifth, Allen came through with a 2-out RBI double to extend his hitting streak to 23 games, tying Fort Wayne’s franchise record, originally set by Sean Burroughs in 1999. During the stretch that goes back to July 10, Allen is 35-for-89 (.393) with 3 doubles, 2 homers and 17 RBIs.
MORE ON BURROUGHS: Sean Burroughs was drafted out of high school by the Padres with the 9th overall pick in the 1998 Draft. In ’99, at the age of 18, he had not only a Fort Wayne record 23-game hitting streak but also set franchise marks with a 56-game on-base streak and .359 average. Burroughs, whose dad, Jeff, won the 1974 AL MVP with the Rangers, went on to make his big league debut for San Diego in 2002. Through 2012, he spent parts of 7 seasons in the majors with the Pads, Rays, Diamondbacks, and Twins. Burroughs, now 35, is still currently playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish in the independent Atlantic League.
LONGEST HITTING STREAK IN THE MINORS: The only current hitting streak longer than Austin Allen’s in Minor League Baseball is held by Indians prospect Francisco Mejia, who is on a 48-game tear split between time in the Midwest League with the Lake County Captains and now with the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats. Mejia’s is the longest hitting streak in the Minors since 1945 (72 years ago).
REMEMBERING A-ROD: Alex Rodriguez is set to play his final game with the Yankees tonight. Back on April 24, 1994, Rodriguez hit the first home run of his professional career as an 18-year-old playing for the Appleton Foxes at Memorial Stadium in Fort Wayne.
BIG CROWDS: With a crowd of 7,670 last night, the TinCaps are now averaging 5,988 fans per game this year, which would set a new franchise record. Fort Wayne is currently outdrawing 13/30 Triple-A teams, 27/30 Double-A clubs, and ranks 2nd out of 100 in Single-A.
EASTERN DIVISION SECOND HALF WILD CARD RACE
Team W-L GB
Lansing 24-22 —
Great Lakes 19-26 4.5
Lake County 19-26 4.5
Fort Wayne 18-28 6.0
Dayton 14-32 10.0
South Bend (division winner) and West Michigan (wild card) clinched playoff spots in the first half. Bowling Green leads in the second half.
