Michel Baez Dominates Again, Striking Out 14 in Win
Credit: Ryan Cox
Fort Wayne, Indiana
In a record-breaking night at Parkview Field, the Fort Wayne TinCaps held on for a 4-3 victory in front of 7,320 fans.
Michel Baez continued his domination of opposing teams, notching his 4th victory in five starts for the TinCaps.
Baez controlled the Dragons’ lineup from the beginning, needing only eight pitches to retire the side in the top of the first.
The right handed pitcher collected 14 Ks over 6.2 innings of work, breaking the Parkview Field record previously set by Kyle Lloyd in 2014.
With relief work by Diomar Lopez and Hansen Rodriguez, TinCaps’ pitching had a combined 19 strikeouts on the night.
The second record of the game fell in the top of the 8th, when Jose Siri extended his hitting streak to 36 games, the longest in Midwest League history. Despite striking out in his first 3 at-bats and falling to an 0-2 count in his 4th, Siri fouled off two pitches before punching a grounder between shortstop and third base.
Here is video of Baez’s 14th K on the night.
Record-breaking 14th strikeout for @TinCaps Michel Baez. TinCaps lead Dayton 4-1 in the 7th. pic.twitter.com/sA7eRsnp2C
— Brett R Rump (@BrettRumpSports) August 1, 2017
The TinCaps started the scoring in the bottom of the 1st, with Nate Easley hitting a home run that just cleared the fence in left-center field and brought in Jack Suwinski, who led off the inning with a single. Easley went 2-3 on the night while batting out of the two hole.
VIDEO: @TinCaps Nate Easley goes deep with a 2-run shot vs. Dayton! @PadresProspects @Padres @EVT_News @madfriars pic.twitter.com/buDeis8p1U
— Glenn Marini (@GlennMariniWANE) August 1, 2017
G. K. Young added a solo home run to right in the bottom of the 4th, and Buddy Reed ripped a 2-out triple in the bottom of the 6th to bring in Hudson Potts, who had walked, making the score 4-1. That was all that Fort Wayne needed for the W.
Michel Baez was ? for @TinCaps:
6.2 IP
5 H
1 R
0 BB
14 K (career high)#Padres No. 7 now has 54 K in 34.2 @MiLB IP: https://t.co/PBxL2YjIl1 pic.twitter.com/FoL2ZCAvRy— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 1, 2017
Despite Baez’s largely overpowering performance, the Dragons managed one run off the starter, a solo HR in the bottom of the 4th.
The Dragons then staged a 9th inning rally, scoring two runs and pulling within one with no outs.
After being called in to replace Lopez, Hansel Rodriguez forced a fly out to center and then struck out the final two Dragons to seal the victory.
Ken A. Bugajski lives and works in Fort Wayne, Indiana. An English professor by trade, he spends many summer nights with his wife and daughter at Parkview Field, home of the TinCaps.