The Lake County Captains chased perfection on Monday, and while the club came up short in their pursuit of history, they did come away with a 2-1 win over West Michigan in the series opener from Classic Park. Over the previous seven days, the results had been mixed for the Indians’ Class-A affiliate, who took three of four at home against Dayton before hitting the road to face Great Lakes, where they promptly dropped three of four.
At 21-28 in the second half of the Midwest League season, the Captains are on the verge of elimination, trailing the South Bend Cubs by 11.5 games from the sixth spot in the Eastern Division. A combination of Cubs’ wins and Captains’ losses equaling eleven games will spell elimination for the young Indians farm club. While they have played well in front of the home crowd in the second half, posting a 12-9 record, they have been lost and have lost on the road a lot, earning a 9-19 record away from Eastlake.
In other news and notes from the Captains’ log:
FOSS SETTLES IN
If you have not followed the Captains closely this season, you may have blinked and missed the addition of Trevor Foss to the club on August 2. Signed the previous day to a minor league contract by the Indians, the 26-year-old right-hander was hit hard in his first start with the Captains, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits with a walk and six strikeouts in four innings of work in his first minor league start since September 3 of last season while a member of the Inland Empire 66ers, the California League (High-A) affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
The next two starts have been much, much improved. On August 9, he worked six scoreless innings, allowing just four hits, walking none, and striking out four. He followed that up on Monday with six innings of perfect baseball before a leadoff hit in the seventh. He was credited with seven full innings of work against West Michigan, allowing one run on two hits with five strikeouts on the night to earn his second consecutive win.
CERVENKA STREAKING AGAIN
Catcher Martin Cervenka started the month on a hot streak and after a brief 0-for-2 day with a pair of walks on August 9, he picked right back up where he left off, getting singles in each of his next five games played.
In August, Cervenka has hit safely in 12 of his 13 games while reaching base safely via hit or walk in all of his starts in the month. He is hitting .375 in the final full month of the season with a .446 on-base percentage. He has driven in five runs and scored five times himself.
HAGGERTY HITS A PAIR
Utility man Sam Haggerty, who had just one home run on the season, has hit a pair in the last week while enjoying an eight-game hitting streak.
From August 5 to August 13, Haggerty had 15 hits in 29 at bats (.517 average) and drew four walks (.576 OBP), hitting a pair of doubles, the two homers, scoring nine times, and driving in four.
The streak did wonders for his batting average for the season, which climbed 29 points over the eight games before the streak ended over the weekend. He had four multi-hit games in the stretch, including a three-hit game on August 8 and a four-hit effort on August 11.
The 22-year-old was a 24th round pick by the Indians in the 2015 draft out of the University of New Mexico.
McKENZIE MAKES SECOND START
Nineteen-year-old right-hander Triston McKenzie made his second Class-A start of his professional career on August 11 and came away with a no-decision despite the quality start.
He lasted two outs into the seventh inning, giving up three runs on five hits. He struck out eight, giving him 19 strikeouts through his first 12 innings with the Captains. He has also failed to walk a batter in that span.
McKenzie was 4-3 with a 0.55 ERA in nine starts at short-season Mahoning Valley prior to his recent promotion.
CARTER MAKING MOST OF HIS TIME
Outfielder Jodd Carter, 20, has made good use of his promotion to Lake County at the end of July. In 14 August games, he has a .288 batting average and a .403 on-base percentage, driving in five runs, scoring eight times, and walking ten. He has also doubled three times and hit a home run, the third of his minor league season after hitting two in 28 games with Mahoning Valley.
Carter was selected in the 24th round of the 2014 draft by the Indians out of Hilo High School in Hawaii.
SLAMMING THE REVOLVING DOOR
Minor league rosters seem to be in a state of flux all year long, but the Captains have not had a roster move made since receiving pitcher Cortland Cox back from the Double-A Akron RubberDucks and transferring pitcher Kenny Mathews to the short-season Mahoning Valley Scrappers on August 7.
Photo: MiLB.com (Foss)
