Mike Couzens has been named manager of broadcasting and media relations, the Fort Wayne TinCaps announced today.Jake Marisnick hit a ground ball that ricocheted off TinCaps pitcher Mike Watt’s leg to Dean Anna. The shortstop fielded the ball and fired to first for an out to end the first inning.
Watt was OK. But Lansing had already inflicted enough damage on Fort Wayne.
The Lugnuts scored three times in the first and beat the TinCaps 8-5 in front of 3,927 fans Tuesday at Parkview Field.
Watt couldn’t get out of the third inning. The left-hander gave up six runs, four earned, on seven hits. Watt exited after the first four batters reached in the third inning.
“He didn’t have his best stuff out there. He left a lot of fastballs out over the plate,” TinCaps manager Jose Flores said. “He didn’t have any command of his secondary pitches, so it was tough for him because all he was throwing was his fastball.
“When he left it out over the plate, they didn’t miss it. They put some good swings on it.”
Fort Wayne’s four-game winning streak came to an end. The team’s magic number to clinch a Midwest League playoff spot remains at four. It’s just the third loss in the last 11 games for the TinCaps (36-21, 72-55 overall).
The Lugnuts (27-30, 63-63) jumped on Fort Wayne early. The first two batters reached on singles. Brad Glenn, the No. 4 batter, walked to load the bases for Sean Ochinko, who cleared them with a double to left-center field.
Ochinko struck again in the third, driving home a run with another double. The Lugnuts tacked on two more runs in the inning to extend their lead to 6-0. The TinCaps turned to reliever Matt Jackson, who retired the next 11 batters.
“Jackson came in and did a great job of attacking the zone and mixing up his pitches,” Flores said. “He let the defense work for him.”
Fort Wayne tried to climb back into the game, scoring one run each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. Jason Hagerty drove in a run with a sacrifice fly in the fourth and scored a run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Daniel Meeley.
Dean Anna hit his sixth home run of the year in the fifth.
Trailing 7-3 in the seventh, the TinCaps loaded the bases with one out, but Jeudy Valdez hit into a double play to end the threat.
Anna added an RBI single during a two-run rally in the eighth.
Fort Wayne got within 7-5 and had runners on first and third with two outs in the eighth. But reliever Nestor Molina got Everett Williams to ground out to end the inning.
“We battled. We hit the ball hard all day,” said Anna, who went 3 for 4. “They just caught it. If those land, I think it’s a different ballgame. We hit the ball hard, and pitched well, they just came out on top.”
The TinCaps open a three-game series with Great Lakes at 7:05 p.m. today at Parkview Field. Fort Wayne trails the Loons by three games for first in the Eastern Division.
