TinCaps break out bats in rout

FORT WAYNE — The TinCaps put together their best offensive game of the season.

Their top player also shined in his first game in nearly a month.

The Fort Wayne TinCaps had season-highs in runs, hits and margin of victory on Sunday in a 15-0 thrashing of the Lansing Lugnuts at Parkview Field.

It was the biggest win for Fort Wayne (28-33) since Labor Day 2017 when it beat Bowling Green, 17-0. The TinCaps totaled 19 hits, the most in a game since notching 20 against West?Michigan on?Aug. 27, 2016.

Already leading 3-0, Fort Wayne buried the Lugnuts (39-24)?with a six-run fourth inning. The home squad, which has now won two of its last three and completes the four-game homestand with Lansing at 7:05 p.m. tonight, tacked on three more runs in the seventh and eighth innings.

Lefty pitcher MacKenzie Gore, the Padres’ top pitching prospect who had been on the shelf since May 14, started and pitched just two innings. He didn’t give up a hit, struck out three and walked one.

Aaron Leasher followed with six innings of relief, scattering four hits and giving up three walks.

Esteury Ruiz hit his sixth homer of the season in the eighth inning, and added a double and a single with four RBIs. Jack Suinski tripled, while Justin Lopez, Gabriel Arias and Juan Fernandez each contributed three hits as each of the nine TinCaps starters recorded at least one base knock.