[dropcap]J[/dropcap]onathon Crawford pitched six shutout innings Tuesday night to earn his first professional win as a Whitecap as West Michigan cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Lake County Captains.
Crawford
Crawford (1-1) allowed three hits and struck out seven batters while not issuing any walks. He threw 72 pitches, of which 52 were for strikes.
West Michigan produced offensively to add to the defensive dominance. In the second inning, Tim Remes drilled a two-out, two-run double to center field to take a 2-0 lead. Wynton Bernard doubled in the fifth and then scored on a base hit by Javier Betancourt. In the sixth inning, Dominic Ficociello launched his first home run of the year off the first pitch by reliever Matt Whitehouse.
The Whitecaps got scoreless innings from the bullpen, who lowered its collective ERA to 2.75. Scott Sitz, Julio Felix and Joe Mantiply all pitched to close out the game.
Betancourt went 2-for-4 on the night, raising his batting average to .308. Tyler Gibson also went 2-for-4 an is credited with sparking the initial rally for the Whitecaps.
Mitch Brown took the loss for the Captains.
West Michigan and Lake County will play again tonight with first pitch at 6:30 p.m. Buck Farmer (2-2, 2.38 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for West Michigan against Luis Lugo (0-3, 6.06 ERA) of Lake County. The Whitecaps sit at a 13-12 record.
Dominic Ficociello tallied his first home run of the season Tuesday night. Pit file photo
