Captains send Locos to 8th straight loss

LANSING, Mich. – Ryan Cesarini and Jeffrey Mercedes each homered and Conner Whitaker pitched four scoreless innings of relief, keying the Lake County Captains’ (34-21, 69-52) 6-2 victory over the Lansing Locos (22-33, 58-63) on Tuesday night at Jackson® Field™.

Lansing has lost eight consecutive games, scoring two runs or fewer in each game.

In defeat, Lansing’s 1-2 hitters Cameron Leary and Casey Yamauchi each went 2-for-3. Leary scored both runs, collected two singles, drew a walk and stole three bases (including home plate in the first inning), while Yamauchi notched a pair of singles, a steal and a sacrifice fly to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and his on-base streak to 26 games.

Locos starter Tzu-Chen Sha gave up five runs on seven hits and two walks in four innings, allowing a Cesarini go-ahead two-run homer in a three-run second inning that wiped out an early 1-0 Lansing lead.

After solo tallies off Sha in the third and the fourth, Mercedes’ solo home run opening the sixth off Wei-En Lin closed out the scoring.

The rest of the game belonged to the Lake County bullpen: Whitaker followed Jogly Garcia’s three innings of two-hit, two-run ball, by scattering five hits and blanking Lansing from the fourth through the seventh innings. Luis Flores handled a scoreless eighth and the ninth.

Right-hander Kenya Huggins starts the second game of the six-game series, the final Dog Days of Summer of 2025, a White Claws & Paws with $5 White Claws with dogs welcome, gates opening at 12 noon and first pitch at 1:05 p.m. Lefty Matt Wilkinson starts for Lake County. For tickets, visit the stadium box office at 505 E. Michigan Ave. in downtown Lansing, call (517) 485-4500 during office hours, or go to lansinglugnuts.com.

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