[dropcap]A[/dropcap] two-hour, 23-minute rain delay didn’t stop the Whitecaps from sweeping the Dayton Dragons Monday night, as West Michigan won 7-5.
Wrapping up their longest road trip in five years with a 7-3 record, West Michigan (15-9, 56-38) improve their overall record to a season-high 18 games over .500. With sweeps during the trip in both Fort Wayne and Dayton (10-14, 46-46), the ‘Caps have now completed eight sweeps this season.
Monday night’s game technically didn’t end until Tuesday morning thanks to the rain delay after the first inning. The ‘Caps, who led by a deficit of 6-1 at one point, pounded 16 hits and benifitted from outstanding relief performances in Zac Reininger and Julio Felix.
The ‘Caps came out swinging in the top of the first, sending all nine batters to the plate and scoring three runs on five hits. Wynton Bernard kick-started the momentum with a long home run to left off the second pitch of the night, his second game-opening homer in the four-game series. Two outs later, the ‘Caps rattled off four-straight singles, which included run-scoring knocks from Grayson Greiner and Willy Adames to seize a 3-0 lead.
Kevin Ziomek followed with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first as the storm moved in. By the time of his second kill to end the frame, a downpour began that saw the tarp come out onto the field.
West Michigan picked up where they left off. Dominic Ficociello drove in runs with hits in both the second and fourth innings, going 3-for-5 on the night to increase his year-to-date hit total to lead the league with 114. Austin Schotts singled and scored in the top of sixth to put the ‘Caps ahead 6-1.
The bullpens were forced to take over early, with Reininger (2-1) pitching four big frames, starting in the second, to help the ‘Caps through the long evening. He put away 12 of the 13 batters he faced, throwing just 38 pitches while allowing just one hit and one run.
After Reininger left, the Dragons mounted a comeback. They surged for four runs against Will LaMarche and Matt Davenport to pull within 6-5. In the eighth inning, Dayton had Daniel Pigott at third with a potential game-tying run with one out. West Michigan’s Andrew Graham turned to Felix (8) to get out of the jam. Felix gave up a groundball to shortstop resulting in a rundown between third and home that saw Pigott get tagged out. Felix retired all five batters he faced to earn the save and extend his scoreless innings streak to 20.1, a ‘Caps season-high.
Raph Rhymes added an insurance run with a leadoff homer in the ninth to cap off the 7-5 win. The Whitecaps return to Fifth Third Ballpark Wednesday to open a six-game homestand at 7 p.m. against the Peoria Chiefs. Chad Green (2-3, 3.62 ERA) is set to face RHP Alex Reyes (6-5, 4.20 ERA).
