LocalSportsJournal.com
Last season West Michigan Whitecaps pitcher Fernando Perez didn’t pick up his first win until his 11th start.
On Friday night Perez got it done in his first start of 2016, striking out nine to lead the Whitecaps to a 5-3 victory over the host Dayton Dragons. He allowed only one run on five hits and no walks in six innings.
Perez started out shaky, giving up three hits in the first inning, including a run scoring single. But he settled down and allowed just two hits the rest of the day.
West Michigan won its second straight game after losing four in a row. The Whitecaps are now 4-4 on the season heading into the third of their four-game series in Dayton today.
The Whitecaps tied the score 1-1 when Brett Pirtle delivered an RBI-single in the third inning.
West Michigan plated a pair of runs in the fourth and sixth, including an RBI-double from David Gonzalez to take a 5-1 lead. The score stayed the same until the ninth when the Dragons scored twice before Whitecaps reliever Jake Shull struck out Dragons centerfielder Mitch Piatnik to seal the victory and earn his first save.
The bottom three hitters in the Whitecaps lineup generated most of the teams’ offense. Steven Fuentes, Arvicent Perez and David Gonzalez – who hit 7-8-9 in the order – went a combined 5-for-8 with two runs scored and three RBIs.
