Travis Whitmore’s day began on the bench.It ended with his teammates mobbing him between first and second base.FORT WAYNE – The ace of the staff is sometimes referred to as the stopper for his ability to pick up a crucial win.
But Fort Wayne’s ace Keyvius Sampson could not stop the TinCaps’ freefall.
South Bend jumped on Sampson early and held on for a 9-8 victory against Fort Wayne in front of 3,327 fans Wednesday at Parkview Field.
“I think everybody is feeling the playoffs,” TinCaps manager Shawn Wooten said, “which is a good thing and a bad thing.”
South Bend’s Roberto Rodriguez and Yazy Arbelo hit home runs during a six-run third inning. Arbelo’s three-run home run ended Sampson’s day.
“I kind of lost my composure and the mechanics kind of went out the window,” said Sampson, who gave up six runs on four hits in 2 1/3 innings to fall to 11-3. “I tried to refocus, but I just couldn’t stop the bleeding.”
The fourth consecutive loss is another gash in Fort Wayne’s (35-30, 65-69 overall) playoff hopes.
The defeat, coupled with West Michigan’s victory at Lake County, means there’s a tie for the final Eastern Division playoff spot. The Whitecaps (35-30) topped the Captains 7-3.
“I told them, if it ended today, we’re not in the playoffs (West Michigan holds the tiebreaker with a 10-9 lead head-to-head),” Wooten said. “We have to go there and beat them anyways.”
Fort Wayne has two more games with the Silver Hawks and then closes the season with three at West Michigan.
The TinCaps trailed by six runs twice. But a one-out, bases-loaded walk by Luis Domoromo got Fort Wayne within 9-8 in the ninth. Connor Powers and Wes Cunningham struck out to end the game.
“That’s what we’ve been doing the whole second half,” Wooten said, referring to getting the clutch hit. “The last week, we haven’t done it.
“The bottom line is we have five games left. If you told me at the all-star break, we’d have five games left and tied for the last spot, would I take it. In a heartbeat. It’s just different because we’ve played so well to get to this point, but I would take it in a heartbeat.”
Wooten wasn’t around to see all of Wednesday’s loss.
He was ejected by home plate umpire Alex Ransom in the fifth inning after two controversial calls.
First, Matt Helm hit a two-run home run to left field off of reliever Deiber Sanchez. The umpires initially called it a double but discussed the play and ruled it cleared the fence. Gerson Montilla then hit a double down the third-base line. Wooten argued and was thrown out of a game for the fifth time this season.
The ejection gave Wooten time to ponder how the TinCaps can turn it around.
“I’m not going to say we are right where we want to be,” Wooten said, “but the fact is we still have to win games.”
