Mike Couzens has been named manager of broadcasting and media relations, the Fort Wayne TinCaps announced today.
One chime at a time, the clock struck midnight for the Streak.
A base on balls here. A roped shot through the gap there. A slow roller slapping handcuffs on an infielder somewhere else.
Finally, Bowling Green rightfielder Brett Nommensen cracked a two-run triple, cracked another, and on a stifling, 3-hour, 48-minute night at Parkview Field, the flame at last went out for the sizzling TinCaps in a 9-5 loss Tuesday, extinguishing an eight-game winning streak.
The teams combined for 27 hits and 14 runs, all of them coming in the last five innings. And if the outcome, for the first time in nine games, didn’t tip in the TinCaps’ favor, it was regarded more as brief commercial pause than an end to anything.
“It was the best we’ve played all year, consistently,” catcher Griffin Benedict said of the previous eight games. “Our pitchers went out and got a lot of outs right away, and our hitters fed off that. So it was a good stretch.
“Tonight’s just one of those nights. It was a long game, and your streak has to end sometime.”
It ended, when all was said and done, because the TinCaps had one rally in them but not two, and because Nommensen got the last word.
His seventh-inning hit erased a hard-won 4-3 TinCaps lead; his eighth-inning knock completed a five-RBI night and opened the door to a four-run eighth that finally put it out of reach for the home side.
The Hot Rods roughed up four Fort Wayne pitchers for 14 hits, getting five of them in the fifth, when they broke up a scoreless tie with three runs off struggling TinCaps starter Pedro Hernandez. Working deep into the count all night, he threw 98 pitches in less than five innings, and then was gone.
His teammates were just getting started, however.
Jason Hagerty greeted Bowling Green starter Kirby Yates with a double over the centerfielder’s head to open the home sixth, then advanced to third on Jed Gyorko’s ground-out.
The next batter, Edinson Rincon, ripped a Yates delivery that Bowling Green shortstop Robi Estrada could only make a diving stop on, bringing Hagerty home and ending Yates’ night.
Williams followed with a double and Payne with a triple, and the 3-0 hole was suddenly a 4-3 lead.
“Just because they go up doesn’t mean the game’s out of reach,” said Benedict, who was 1-for-4 and scored a run.
“This team stays together real well whether they score a lot of runs or not. It’s a good sign when everybody is down and still can get back.”
On this night, though, it was Nommensen who got back for the Hot Rods. And the TinCaps’ task – secure a playoff spot – remained unchanged.
“The biggest thing is to come out tomorrow and continue to play hard,” TinCaps manager Jose Flores said. “We’ve got, I don’t know, however many games left, only got about 3 1/2 weeks to go. But these guys know what they’re trying to obtain, and that’s to clinch a playoff spot. They know what’s in store. And one game is not gonna do it.”
