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.Rocky Gale drove in four runs as the TinCaps defeated Lake County 6-1 Monday at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.
The TinCaps (32-24, 62-63 overall) increased their lead for the final Eastern Division playoff spot to three games with the victory. Great Lakes (29-27) lost to Bowling Green 4-1. West Michigan (29-27) is also three games back. The Whitecaps topped South Bend 2-1. Fort Wayne has 14 games remaining in the regular season.
Fort Wayne scored three times in the first inning. Connor Powers had an RBI sacrifice fly. Gale had an RBI single and finished with three hits.
Gale drove in Rymer Liriano with a single in the third to extend the lead to 4-0. He knocked in Liriano and Luis Domoromo with a single in the fifth to give Fort Wayne a 6-0 lead.
Liriano scored three runs. Domoromo scored twice. Cory Spangenberg had two hits to increase his batting average to .264.
Matt Jackson returned from a stint on the disabled list and pitched the first 2 2/3 innings. He struck out three and gave up two hits before exiting. The TinCaps used five pitchers. Adys Portillo pitched three innings to gain the victory. He gave up one run on three hits and struck out two Captains.
The final game of the series begins at 7 p.m. today.
Note: To make room for Jackson, pitcher Robert Eisenbach was placed on the temporarily inactive list.
