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.
FORT WAYNE – Rymer Liriano is speeding up the TinCaps’ record book – he is two steals away from Jeremy Owens’ 12-year-old franchise record – and because of Liriano’s production, he’s been given an honor unprecedented for a Fort Wayne player.
He was chosen Monday as the Midwest League’s MVP, a label never bestowed on a Fort Wayne player in 19 seasons. Liriano was also picked as the league’s Prospect of the Year – league managers chose the winners – and no Fort Wayne player since Jose (Javier) Valentín in 1995 had received that designation.
After hearing the news, Liriano went 1 for 4 with an RBI and stolen base, as the TinCaps lost 6-5 in a crucial game against the Lansing Lugnuts in front of 3,861 fans at Parkview Field.
“There’s a great sense of pride for me,” Liriano, 20, said.
“I’ve been working hard, and working harder, and I don’t ever think to myself that I want to win the MVP. My mindset has just been on working hard, working hard.”
He’ll have to keep doing so, as Fort Wayne’s lead for the final playoff berth in the Eastern Division fell to one game over West Michigan with seven games remaining.
Liriano, a right fielder in his second season with Fort Wayne (35-28 in second half, 65-67 overall), came into Monday hitting .319, third best in the Midwest League, with 62 stolen bases, second in the league. He also had 11 home runs and 57 RBI. He was the only TinCap named to the Midwest League’s postseason all-star team.
“I saw him at his lowest point when he was here (in 2010) and sent to extended spring training. I was there with him,” manager Shawn Wooten said. “He was struggling, and then he went to (Short-A) Eugene and we all saw what he could do. …
“When you win the MVP, that tells me a lot about your team, but when you also get the Top Prospect, you don’t see that a lot. You usually see one or the other.”
Manager of the Year went to Lansing’s Mike Redmond, and his team had a 1-0 lead before B.J. Guinn scored on Rico Noel’s bunt in the third inning.
That was followed by a Liriano RBI double for a 2-1 lead.
Lansing (34-29, 72-58) tied it in the fourth on Bryson Namba’s RBI single.
But Fort Wayne responded in the bottom of the inning.
Lansing second baseman Oliver Dominguez’s throwing error allowed Wes Cunningham to score for a 3-2 Fort Wayne lead.
The TinCaps got two more in the sixth.
Cory Spangenberg had an RBI single, and Spangenberg beat out right-fielder Michael Crouse’s throw home on a Luis Domoromo sacrifice fly for a 5-2 lead.
But things soon got tense for the TinCaps.
Fort Wayne relief pitcher Robert Lara, who had retired eight of the first nine batters he faced, striking out four of them, gave up back-to-back home runs to Jake Marisnick and K.C. Hobson in the top of the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, against Chris Franklin, the Lugnuts got a Jonathan Jones single that hopped over the shortstop, Guinn, and scored Garis Pena and Crouse.
