LocalSportsJournal.com

LANSING, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps made their mothers proud with an outstanding all-around effort featuring three home runs and an eight-run ninth inning as part of a 12-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts Sunday at Jackson Field.

West Michigan’s three homers mark the second-highest total in any game they’ve played this season.

Chris Meyers, Jose King, and Ulrich Bojarski all left the ballpark during the Whitecaps Mother’s Day win that marked the biggest margin of victory for the ‘Caps this season. 

The Whitecaps scored first on Sunday with a run in the second inning before Chris Meyers launched a two-run homer in the third, his first as a Whitecap, to extend the West Michigan edge to 3-0.

Meanwhile, starting pitcher, Jack O’Loughlin spun four scoreless innings allowing just one hit to help the ‘Caps take the early advantage.

In the seventh, Jose King celebrated his return to West Michigan with his first home run of the season. King, who was assigned to the Whitecaps from Erie over the weekend, collected four RBI in his two games since returning.

In the eighth, Lansing scored their only run on a solo homer by Eurbiel Angeles, his first as a Lugnut, to cut the ‘Caps lead to 4-1.

In the ninth, the ‘Caps scored eight more times – six of which came against closer Angello Infante – with a two-run single from Colt Keith, a two-run triple by Wenceel Perez, and a grand slam from Bojarski. The slam was the first of its kind for the Whitecaps this season and ended the scoring in Sunday’s rout.

Gio Arriera (2-0) tossed two innings of scoreless relief to pick up the victory, while Osvaldo Berrios (1-2) gave up three runs in five frames while taking his second loss.

Andrew Magno retired the final five Lugnuts hitters to earn his first save in a West Michigan uniform.

The Whitecaps improve to 10-17 while the Lugnuts drop to 11-16. The victory gives the ‘Caps consecutive wins for the first time since April 15-16.

Keith extended his team-best hitting streak to 12 games with his single in the ninth. The eight-run ninth marked the second-largest scoring output in a single inning this season, just one run shy of the nine-run ninth from West Michigan’s victory over the Great Lakes Loons on April 10 at Dow Diamond earlier this year.

UP NEXT

The West Michigan Whitecaps return home to LMCU Ballpark for a six-game series against the Beloit Sky Carp beginning Tuesday at 6:35 pm.

The starting pitchers for Tuesday are still to be determined. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20 pm. Get your tickets for all 2022 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com