The bullpen came to the rescue for the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Monday. Three relievers allowed one run over the final six innings in Fort Wayne's 5-4 win over the Lake County Captains at Eastlake, Ohio.
Dennis O'Grady picked up the win in relief, pitching shutout ball for three innings. He took over in the fourth inning for starter Cody Hebner after Hebner allowed three runs in three innings. It was Hebner's shortest outing of the season. O'Grady gave up three hits and struck out three while picking up his first win of the season.
Johnny Barbato pitched the 7th and 8th innings for Fort Wayne and allowed one run on three hits.
Matthew Stites retired the Captains in order in the 9th to earn his 6th save of the season.
Duanel Jones was the hitting star for Fort Wayne, going 2-for-4 including a two-run homer in the second inning. Jones also scored twice.
Jace Peterson and Travis Whitmore matched Jones in the hit department with two each. Whitmore's RBI-single in the 8th gave Fort Wayne a 5-3 lead. That run proved to be important as Lake County scored in the bottom of the inning to cut the lead to 5-4.
Also contributing to Fort Wayne's 10-hit attack were Travis Jankowski, Yeison Asencio, Tyler Stubblefield and Kyle Gaedele with one hit each.
After beating Lake County 4-0 on Sunday, the TinCaps are assured of winning their fourth straight series to begin the second half of the season. The teams play the third and final game of the series at 7 tonight at Eastlake.
