On Tuesday night the Fort Wayne TinCaps defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 1-0 in the opener of a three-game series. Fort Wayne, though, didn't record a base hit until the eighth inning as Travis Whitmore's leadoff single against Jesse Hernandez broke up the righthander's no-hit bid. The TinCaps lone run scored on Casey McElroy's first-inning sacrifice fly.
Jace Peterson led off the bottom of the first by drawing a walk against Hernandez. The TinCaps shortstop stole second, and advanced to third on a wild pitch, just the second issued by Hernandez this season. Following a Tyler Stubblefield strikeout, McElroy lined a sacrifice fly to center field, which plated Peterson and made the score 1-0.
From there, the pitching battle between Frank Garces (2-4) and Hernandez ensued. Garces, the Fort Wayne southpaw, worked five innings, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out six. He earned his first win since an April 21st decision at Kane County.
Hernandez (4-4), who had not thrown more than seven innings this year, worked eight frames. He struck out eight and walked one, surrendering just the one hit and one run.
James Needy earned his first save of the season, working four innings in relief. The San Diego native allowed one hit and struck out five, helping to keep the shutout intact.
The Fort Wayne franchise has now gone 2,693 games without being no-hit.
Game two of the series is scheduled for 7:05 PM on Wednesday night. The scheduled starters are Adys Portillo for Fort Wayne and Anthony DeSclafani for Lansing.
