Whitecaps play not too little, but too late
For the second time this season, the West Michigan Whitecaps came up just short of securing a spot in the 2012 Midwest League playoffs. Also, for the first time in franchise history, the ‘Caps will be missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. Despite winning nine of their last 13 games, West Michigan was eliminated from the playoff race with a loss to Fort Wayne Friday night. The teams went 15-5 down the stretch in the first half of the season, but were unable to catch Bowling Green for that spot. Maybe they needed a miracle, or…maybe they needed starting pitcher Marcelo Carreno…
Marcelo Carreno recorded 13 strikeouts against the Dayton Dragons on Saturday night
Just one day after being eliminated, Carreno and the Whitecaps came home to Fifth-Third Ballpark and took everything out on the Dayton Dragons. Carreno recorded 13 strikeouts in the 7-1 victory, carving up the Dragons with his nasty curveball. He threw six scoreless innings and finished with game with 66 strikes on 89 pitches. Carreno’s 13 strikeouts were a career high, and the most by a starting pitcher this season.
“My curveball was amazing tonight”, he told the Grand Rapids Press. “Their hitters couldn’t hit my curveball so just used it a lot. Every time I got two strikes on a hitter, I went to the curveball and it was a strikeout. My fastball and change-up was good, too, and I could close my eyes tonight and throw the ball for a strike. We didn’t make the playoffs, and we feel bad about that, but we keep playing hard. We are a winning team.”
Offensively, the ‘Caps scored six runs in the second inning to help secure the win. Eugenio Suarez had an RBI single and Jason King hit a two-out single to make it 6-0. In the fifth inning, Colin Kaline added an RBI single to score King, who had a double to lead off the inning. Kaline, King, and Suarez each had two hits in the game. Unfortunately, it was a little too late for the ‘Caps, but they will still end the season with a winning record. We went to their second-to-last game yesterday, and I’ll post pics of that game soon.
Photos courtesy of Sally Finneran/Grand Rapids Press/MLive.com
Minoring In Baseball
