Fort Wayne TinCaps (22-37 – 8th, 58-71) @ Great Lakes Loons (28-30 – 3rd, 57-71)
LHP Thomas Dorminy (4-4, 3.18) vs. LHP Victor Gonzalez (3-5, 4.11)
Thursday, Aug. 25 — Dow Diamond (Midland, Mich.) — First Pitch 7:05 p.m. — Game 130
LAST NIGHT: The TinCaps ended a 3-game skid with a 2-1, come-from-behind win over the Loons.
ROSTER MOVES: Today the Padres transferred righty reliever Lou Distasio from Fort Wayne to the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm. In August, Distasio was unscored upon over 5 appearances across 12 innings. To replace his spot in the bullpen, San Diego has promoted another righty, Evan Miller, from Short Season-A Tri-City. Miller, 21, had a 2.08 ERA with the Dust Devils in 15 outings out of the bullpen.
FROM FORT WAYNE TO THE TINCAPS: Miller, who’s from LaPorte, Ind. (about 100 miles to the northwest of Parkview Field), was drafted by the Padres in the 22nd round in June out of Fort Wayne (then known as IPFW). Miller was with the Fort Wayne Mastodons for 2 seasons, pitching in 31 games (29 starts). This spring, he led the Dons in strikeouts with 71 in 72.1 innings. In 2015, he set a school record with 94 Ks in 80 innings. He helped lead Fort Wayne to the Summit League Championship Series in both of his seasons, including this past year when the Mastodons won a school-record 33 games.
MASTODONS IN THE MINORS: Miller is the only Fort Wayne alum currently on an active roster in MiLB. Right-hander Chuck Weaver, a Homestead grad,was having a solid season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers (Marlins), but has been on the DL since July 11 with an elbow injury. Miller was the third ever Don selected in the MLB Draft. Dan Matthews went to the Brewers in the 26th round in 1998 and Ryan Steinach was taken by the Orioles in round 20 in ’05.
RECENT HOOSIERS: Miller, a LaPorte High School alum, is the first TinCap this season to have graduated from an Indiana high school. Last year’s team featured Josh VanMeter (Norwell) and T.J. Weir (Kokomo). In 2012, Brandon Alger (Leo) pitched for the TinCaps in the playoffs. (Will Headean, who was with the team in April and May this year, was born in West Lafayette but his family moved to Illinois.)
BELEN BASHES: Third baseman Carlos Belen hit his 11th home run of the season last night. For Belen, 8 of his homers have come since the All-Star break. In fact, since June 26, he’s tied for the fifth most homers in the MWL. Belen leads the TinCaps in extra-base hits on the season with 42, which again ranks fifth in the MWL going back to his debut on April 23.
BORN TO RUN: On this day in 1975, Bruce Springsteen released his Born to Run album. Even though he hasn’t played a single game with the team in the second half after being promoted to High-A Lake Elsinore, Michael Gettys leads the TinCaps in steals on the season with 24. That led the league at the time of his departure, and still ranks seventh in the circuit. Rymer Liriano (2011) and Jeremy Owens (1999) share the single-season franchise record with 65 stolen bases. Mallex Smith swiped 64 in 2013 and had 48 over 65 games in the first half in 2014 before being promoted to Lake Elsinore. He led all of the Minors in steals that year with 88.
WON BY 1: Last night’s victory improved the TinCaps’ record in 1-run games to 23-29. No one else in the league has played in more 1-run games. On the other side, Great Lakes has the worst winning percentage in 1-run games in the league this year, with a 16-23 (.410) ledger.
MWL EASTERN DIVISION SECOND HALF WILD CARD RACE:
Team W-L GB Streak
Great Lakes Loons 28-30 — L1
Lansing Lugnuts 28-31 0.5 L3
Lake County Captains 26-33 2.5 L4
Dayton Dragons 23-36 5.5 W3
Fort Wayne TinCaps 22-37 6.5 W1
South Bend won the first half division title. West Michigan won the first half wild card. Bowling Green is 10.5 games ahead of Great Lakes for first place in the second half.
