July 19, 2019 at 4:25 p.m.
COMEBACK ’CAPS
Fort Wayne erases nine-run deficit for largest rally in franchise history
COMEBACK ’CAPS
FORT WAYNE — The TinCaps were all but done.
The Chiefs had just scored three more runs and were in command, 11-2, heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jawuan Harris and Blake Hunt both went deep as part of a four-run frame.
The TinCaps pushed across another in the sixth.
Three walks, after not drawing a free pass all game, set the table for Harris.
The unlikely hero came through with a grand slam to tie the game and a double steal plated the eventual game-winning run as the Fort Wayne TinCaps made history by scoring the final 10 runs for a 12-11 comeback win against the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday in front of a sellout Parkview Field crowd.
“It feels great, obviously,” said Harris, who entered the game with a .177 batting average and finished with the first multi-homer game of his career. “The crowd was here. Thirsty Thursday, fireworks, there was a lot going into it and to come back and have a win like this it is cool to be a part of.”
The rally is the biggest comeback in Parkview Field history, surpassing an eight-run rally in an Aug. 7, 2014, contest against the Lake County Captains that featured the same final score.
“In my coaching career it’s probably one of, if not the best comeback I’ve been a part of,” fourth-year TinCap manager Anthony Contreras said. “I’ve been a part of some of them, but to see my guys, the preparation and all the stuff we talked about come through, these guys getting excited like they did, it means a lot and it was fun to be a part of that.”
Peoria (4-22, 34-61), a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate that has lost 16 of its last 17 games, scored three runs in the fifth inning for the third and final time of the game for a comfortable nine-run lead.
Harris, a 22-year-old, Pembroke Pines, Florida, native who played football and baseball for Rutgers, hit his fifth homer of the season with one out to start the comeback. Ethan Skender scored on an Agustin Ruiz two-out double, and Hunt blasted his fifth homer of the year to make it 11-6.
Luke Becker and Michael Curry hit back-to-back doubles in the sixth to cut into the deficit once more.
Fort Wayne (9-17, 42-52), which had not drawn a walk all game through seven innings, loaded the bases in the eighth on three straight free passes to Becker, Curry and Lee Solomon.
Harris stepped to the plate with a raucous crowd behind him. He watched Eli Kraus’s first pitch go for a ball, and the second a called strike. Harris, whose parents were in the stands watching, put the third Kraus offering over the wall in left field, yelling and jumping in celebration of his feat as he got to first base.
“I hit the first one, I felt good at the plate (and I was) seeing the ball well, I thought, toward the end of the game,” he said. “For me to be able to do that is exciting. I can barely tell you what pitch it was or what happened but it was a great moment for everyone.”
But the TinCaps kept going.
Skender reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on an infield single by Ruiz. On a ball at the plate to Hunt, Ruiz took off for second base with two outs and got caught in a rundown long enough to let Skender score the eventual game-winning run. Ruiz then made it safely to second following a brief back-and-forth on the base path.
Adrian Martinez, whose fastball topped 97 mph, allowed a two-out hit in the ninth but struck out Brandon Benson to complete the comeback.
While starter Sam Keating struggled, allowing eight runs — seven earned — on nine hits in just four innings, Austin Smith and Martinez combined to allow just two hits and no runs over the final four frames.
And as the dust settled, Contreras was happy to get the win and hopeful it can propel the TinCaps going forward.
“For thing to happen like that a lot of stuff has to go our way,” he said. “We get three walks, then obviously Jawuan hits that grand slam which is probably least expected in our lineup. He’s been working hard.
“Baseball is a funny game like that. Things can happen at any time. You don’t know when they are going to click. For these guys, they’ve been waiting for a boost especially after a (season-long) road trip and the way those things went.”
The Chiefs had just scored three more runs and were in command, 11-2, heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.
Jawuan Harris and Blake Hunt both went deep as part of a four-run frame.
The TinCaps pushed across another in the sixth.
Three walks, after not drawing a free pass all game, set the table for Harris.
The unlikely hero came through with a grand slam to tie the game and a double steal plated the eventual game-winning run as the Fort Wayne TinCaps made history by scoring the final 10 runs for a 12-11 comeback win against the Peoria Chiefs on Thursday in front of a sellout Parkview Field crowd.
“It feels great, obviously,” said Harris, who entered the game with a .177 batting average and finished with the first multi-homer game of his career. “The crowd was here. Thirsty Thursday, fireworks, there was a lot going into it and to come back and have a win like this it is cool to be a part of.”
The rally is the biggest comeback in Parkview Field history, surpassing an eight-run rally in an Aug. 7, 2014, contest against the Lake County Captains that featured the same final score.
“In my coaching career it’s probably one of, if not the best comeback I’ve been a part of,” fourth-year TinCap manager Anthony Contreras said. “I’ve been a part of some of them, but to see my guys, the preparation and all the stuff we talked about come through, these guys getting excited like they did, it means a lot and it was fun to be a part of that.”
Peoria (4-22, 34-61), a St. Louis Cardinals affiliate that has lost 16 of its last 17 games, scored three runs in the fifth inning for the third and final time of the game for a comfortable nine-run lead.
Harris, a 22-year-old, Pembroke Pines, Florida, native who played football and baseball for Rutgers, hit his fifth homer of the season with one out to start the comeback. Ethan Skender scored on an Agustin Ruiz two-out double, and Hunt blasted his fifth homer of the year to make it 11-6.
Luke Becker and Michael Curry hit back-to-back doubles in the sixth to cut into the deficit once more.
Fort Wayne (9-17, 42-52), which had not drawn a walk all game through seven innings, loaded the bases in the eighth on three straight free passes to Becker, Curry and Lee Solomon.
Harris stepped to the plate with a raucous crowd behind him. He watched Eli Kraus’s first pitch go for a ball, and the second a called strike. Harris, whose parents were in the stands watching, put the third Kraus offering over the wall in left field, yelling and jumping in celebration of his feat as he got to first base.
“I hit the first one, I felt good at the plate (and I was) seeing the ball well, I thought, toward the end of the game,” he said. “For me to be able to do that is exciting. I can barely tell you what pitch it was or what happened but it was a great moment for everyone.”
But the TinCaps kept going.
Skender reached base on a fielder’s choice and advanced to third on an infield single by Ruiz. On a ball at the plate to Hunt, Ruiz took off for second base with two outs and got caught in a rundown long enough to let Skender score the eventual game-winning run. Ruiz then made it safely to second following a brief back-and-forth on the base path.
Adrian Martinez, whose fastball topped 97 mph, allowed a two-out hit in the ninth but struck out Brandon Benson to complete the comeback.
While starter Sam Keating struggled, allowing eight runs — seven earned — on nine hits in just four innings, Austin Smith and Martinez combined to allow just two hits and no runs over the final four frames.
And as the dust settled, Contreras was happy to get the win and hopeful it can propel the TinCaps going forward.
“For thing to happen like that a lot of stuff has to go our way,” he said. “We get three walks, then obviously Jawuan hits that grand slam which is probably least expected in our lineup. He’s been working hard.
“Baseball is a funny game like that. Things can happen at any time. You don’t know when they are going to click. For these guys, they’ve been waiting for a boost especially after a (season-long) road trip and the way those things went.”
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