Lee Orr paid close attention to how Bowling Green closer Austin Hubbard pitched Fort Wayne teammate Mike Gallic.The TinCaps trailed the Hot Rods by a run in the ninth May 20 at Parkview Field.Cory Spangenberg missed all three games in Fort Wayne’s series at Lansing with a sore hamstring.
The No. 10 overall pick in this year’s draft entered Wednesday’s game as a pinch hitter.
He showed he was all the way back Thursday. Spangenberg homered and scored three runs in Fort Wayne’s 11-2 victory over West Michigan in front of 5,501 fans at Parkview Field.
“Spangy put a pretty good swing on the ball and it seemed like it relaxed him and everybody, really, to go out and start having some more quality, sound at-bats,” TinCaps manager Shawn Wooten said.
The TinCaps (29-23, 59-62 overall) took sole possession of the final Eastern Division playoff spot with the win. Fort Wayne leads Great Lakes (28-24) by a game and the Whitecaps (27-25, 59-62) by two. Dayton scored twice in the ninth to beat the Loons 5-4.
Fort Wayne received a scare in the sixth inning when outfielder Rymer Liriano had to leave the game after getting hit on left wrist with a pitch. Liriano, who entered Thursday with a Midwest League-best .325 average, got hit with the bases loaded in the sixth. He remained in the game but was replaced by Mike Gallic in the seventh. Wooten said Liriano should be in the lineup today.
“He’s fine,” Wooten said. “We were up, and I wanted to take him out so he could get some ice and let it come down a little bit. It was swollen a little bit.”
Liriano scored three runs before he had to exit.
Spangenberg scored as many runs in his return to the starting lineup.
“He’s a nice spark to our ballclub,” Wooten said. “… He can pop a ball out of the ballpark, and he can take the ball the other way.”
Spangenberg’s solo home run off West Michigan starter Brian Stroud in the fifth inning gave the TinCaps a 3-2 lead. Liriano then reached on an error and later scored on a fielder’s choice.
Fort Wayne broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.
The TinCaps took advantage of the wildness of relief pitcher Kevan Hess.
Liriano was hit by a pitch in the arm with the bases loaded. Chris Bisson scored to extend the lead to 5-2. Luis Domoromo followed with a bases-loaded walk. Spangenberg scored on a wild pitch to give the TinCaps a 7-2 lead. Connor Powers hit a sacrifice fly to right, making it 8-2.
The TinCaps tacked on three more runs in the seventh. Rico Noel hit a two-run double. Noel had two hits and scored twice.
Bisson also had two hits and scored two runs.
Dennis O’Grady gave up two runs on six hits in five innings to improve to 4-0.
“He grinds things out. He has that two-seamer (fastball) he can throw and get a swing and a miss or a ground ball,” Wooten said. “He attacks hitters.”
