Class-A OFFICIAL GAME INFORMATION Lake County Captains (38-27) vs. Great Lakes Loons (41-22) Thursday, June 13 • 7:00 p.m. • Classic Park • Broadcast: All Sports CLE Game #66 • Home Game #35 • Season Series: 4-2, 7 Games Remaining RHP Alex Royalty (1-4, 4.95 ERA) vs. RHP Stephen Kolek (4-3, 4.42 ERA) YESTERDAY: The Captains lost to the Great Lakes Loons, 5-0. Great Lakes clinched a playoff berth with the win and clinched the First Half Eastern Division title when the Bowling Green Hot Rods lost to the Fort Wayne TinCaps later last night. Loons lefty starter John Rooney pitched 6.2 shutout Midwest League • Overall innings for the win. Nathan Witt then pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief and Brett de Geus pitched a scoreless ninth. Great Lakes scored a pair of runs in the second on a wild pitch that brought home Niko Hulsizer and a fielder’s choice off the bat of James Outman that scored Chris Roller. In the third, Dillon Paulson led off with a double and later scored on a single by Matt Cogen. Hulsizer added a two-run homer in the seventh to cap the scoring. Eastern Division W L GB STRANGE, BUT TRUE: Will Benson has gone 0-for-8 the last three games, but has five RBI. Benson has contributed four sacrifice flies and has driven in a run on a bases-loaded walk. @ Great Lakes (Dodgers) 41 22 -- MWL RANKINGS Benson Freeman Cardenas Oviedo LAKE COUNTY (INDIANS) 38 27 4.0 HR (16) –1st R (49) – 1st 3B (5) – T-2nd W (6) – T-1st RBI (53) – 1st SLG (.526) – 3rd GS (13) – T-1st Bowling Green (Rays) 38 28 4.5 SLG (.589) – 1st TB (112) – 5th TB (123) – 1st OPS (.881) – 4th South Bend (Cubs) 34 31 8.0 OPS (.953) – 2nd HR (9) – T-5th XBH (31) – 2nd XBH (24) – 5th Fort Wayne (Padres) 30 34 11.5 SB (18) – 3rd Lansing (Blue Jays) 30 35 12.0 2019 ALL-STARS: OF Will Benson, SS Tyler Freeman and RHP Manuel Alvarez have been named 2019 Midwest League All-Stars and are set to represent the Eastern Division at the 55th MWL All-Star Classic on June 18 at Four Winds Field in South Bend, IN. Benson was named an All-Star starter, while Freeman and Alvarez will be reserves. Dayton (Reds) 27 39 15.5 PLAYOFF PICTURE: With four games remaining in the first half, the Captains hold a ½ game lead over the Bowling Green Hot Rods for the Wild Card. West Michigan (Tigers) 20 46 22.5 The Great Lakes Loons have clinched first place. Lake County owns the head-to-head tiebreaker with Bowling Green (6-5). The Captains do not face the Hot Rods again in the first half. Western Division W L GB POWER UP: The Captains lead the Midwest League in home runs (59) and slugging percentage (.397). Will Benson also leads the league in home runs (16) and slugging percentage (.589). Lake County has led the MWL in homers each of the last two seasons and the Captains have had the individual @ Quad Cities (Astros) 40 21 -- home run champion the last two years. Lake County’s 118 long balls led the circuit in 2018 and Benson hit the most homers in the league with 22. In 2017, the Captains set a new club record with a league-leading 153 home runs (two shy of tying the MWL record of 155, set in 1961 by Waterloo). Emmanuel Tapia broke the Captains’ single-season record that year with a league-best 29 big flies. Burlington (Angels) 37 29 5.5 A TOUGH LOSS: Jesse Berardi was placed on the Injured List Sunday. The Captains’ infielder had tallied three straight multi-hit games, during which he Cedar Rapids (Twins) 36 30 6.5 was 7-for-12 with three doubles, two RBI and two runs. In his last 11 games, Berardi has gone 16-for-38 (.421) with three homers, four doubles, a triple, 10 RBI and seven runs with two strikeouts and two walks. Kane County (Diamondbacks) 33 32 9.0 MLB DRAFT: The three-day, 40-round 2019 MLB Draft finished up last Wednesday. With their first round pick (24th overall), the Cleveland Indians selected RHP Daniel Espino, an 18-year old out of Georgia Premier Academy who grew up in Panama. In the second round (63rd overall), the Indians Clinton (Marlins) 32 33 10.0 selected 17-year old switch-hitting shortstop Yordys Valdes, a Cuba native who moved to South Florida at the age of five and attended McArthur High School. Wisconsin (Brewers) 29 36 13.0 INDIANS DRAFT BREAKDOWN: In the 2019 MLB Draft, Cleveland selected 13 high school players, 13 college juniors, 11 college seniors, two fifth-year Peoria (Cardinals) 28 37 14.0 college seniors and one junior college player. The Indians selected 25 pitchers, seven shortstops, four catchers, three centerfielders and one first basema n. By age, Cleveland picked four 17-year-olds, nine 18-year-olds, one 19-year-old, four 20-year-olds, 11 21-year-olds, nine 22-year-olds and two 23-year-olds. Beloit (A’s) 25 38 16.0 ALL IN THE FAMILY: Two Captains have had the joy of watching their brothers reach milestones in their baseball careers this year. Last Tuesday st nd st nd @-1 Half Title $-2 Half Title %-1 -half Wild Card *-2 -half Wild Card afternoon, Tyler Freeman watched the Texas Rangers select his younger brother, Cody Freeman, in the fourth round (115th overall) of the MLB Draft. On May 24, Bo Naylor’s older brother, Josh Naylor, made his major league debut with the San Diego Padres. Josh debuted in Toronto, roughly 30 minutes from the family’s hometown of Mississauga, ON. PEOPLE, LET ME TELL YOU ‘BOUT MY BEST FRIEND: With their third round pick (101st overall), the Indians selected 18-year-old first baseman Joe Naranjo from Rueben S. Ayala High School in California. Naranjo is best friends with Cody Freeman, the younger brother of Captains shortstop Tyler Captains Contacts Freeman. FOUR-HOMER HISTORY: Will Benson became the first player in Captains history to hit four home runs in a single game when he accomplished the rare feat on April 18 against the South Bend Cubs. Benson hit a two-run homer in the first, a solo home run in the third, a grand slam in the fourth and a solo Tim O’Brien: [email protected] homer in the sixth. He is now the fifth player in Midwest League history to produce a four-home run game and the fourth to do so in the MWL regular season. The three others who hit four home runs in a MWL regular season game are Garrett Jones (2002; Quad Cities River Bandits), Mike Bishop (1978; Andrew Luftglass: [email protected] Quad Cities Angels) and Bobby Smith (1959; Clinton Pirates). Eric Battersby (1999; Burlington Bees) is the only player ever to hit four home runs in the Telephone: 440-975-8085 MWL postseason gam e. Twitter: @LCCaptains OFF TO THE RACES: Ruben Cardenas hit an inside-the-park home run on April 16 in Bowling Green. It was the first inside-the-park homer by a Captains hitter since Sam Haggerty hit one on August 8, 2016 against the Dayton Dragons. TOP PROSPECTS: Lake County features six of the Indians’ Top 30 prospects on its active roster, according to MLB.com. SS/2B Tyler Freeman (#3), C Bo Naylor (#4), RHP Luis Oviedo (#8), 2B/SS Jose Fermin (#23), OF Will Benson (#25), OF Quentin Holmes (#27). UPCOMING SCHEDULE AND PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS TOP PICKS: The Captai ns’ roster includes two former first round draft picks and the Indians’ #1 draft selections from each of the last three years with OF Date Opp. Time (ET) Captains Starter Will Benson (2016; 1st round – 14Opponentth overall), OF Starter Quentin Holmes* (2017; 2nd round – 64th overall) and C Bo NaylorLive (2018; Audio 1st round(Subject – 29th overall).to Change) *The 6/14 at Fort Wayne 7:05 PM RHP Luis Oviedo Indians did not have a first roundLHP pick inRyan 2017. Weathers All Sports CLE & AM 1330/101.5 FM WINT 6/15 at Fort Wayne 7:05 PM RHP Cody Morris CARLIN RETURNS: Luke CarlinRHP is back E forfrain his Contrerassecond straight season as Captains Manager, becomingAll Sports the first CLEskipper & since AM Ted1330/101.5 Kubiak in 2010 FM-11 WINT to 6/16 at Fort Wayne 1:05 PM RHP Juan Mota spend multiple seasons in Lake RHPCounty. Gabe Between Mosser Kubiak’s 2011 campaign and Carlin’s Captains debut last yeaAllr, Sportsthe Captains CLE had & a ESPN new manager 970 WFUNevery year for sevenEND straight OF years. FIRST Carlin HALF is now the fourth manager in Captains history to lead the team for multiple seasons, joining Kubiak, Aaron Holbert (2008-09) and Luis Rivera (2003-04). In his first year at the helm, Carlin led Lake County to a 60-79 record. ALUMNI ON THE BENCH: Captains Pitching Coach Owen Dew and Bench Coach Jordan Smith both played for Lake County before beginning their LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS GAME NOTES PAGE 2 TODAY’S CAPTAINS STARTING PITCHER #28 ALEX ROYALTY RHP 2019 Game-By-Game Date Opp Dec IP H R ER HR SO BB Result Born (Age): March 19, 1997 (22) 4/9 G1 BG ND 5.0 5 2 2 0 6 1 L (10), 6-3 Hometown: Raleigh, NC 4/14 at DAY ND 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 W, 8-1 School: UNC Wilmington 4/20 SB G1 L 5.0 4 1 1 0 5 2 L, 1-0 HT: 6’4” │WT: 190 lbs │ Bats: R │Throws: R 4/25 at WM ND 4.0 10 6 6 0 4 1 L (10), 10-9 5/1 QC L 0.1 4 4 4 0 1 1 L, 7-2 Acquired: 2018 MLB Draft – Round 8 *5/17 BG ND 3.0 1 0 0 0 2 1 L, 3-1 Pitch Selection: Fastball, slider, changeup 5/22 at DAY ND 4.0 3 1 1 0 1 1 W (10), 3-2 5/28 SB W 5.1 5 2 2 0 5 2 W, 10-3 6/2 WM G2 L 5.1 3 3 2 1 5 1 W, 4-2 2019 Statistics 6/8 LAN L 3.1 3 4 2 1 3 5 L, 9-3 Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR HBP BB SO Total 1-4 36.1 38 23 20 1 32 15 LC 1 4 4.95 10 9 0 0 36.1 38 23 20 1 9 15 32 Total 1 4 4.95 10 9 0 0 36.1 38 23 20 1 9 15 32 * Relief Appearance Career Statistics Year Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO IP SO BB WHIP 2018 AZL IND1 1 0 0.00 4 1 0 0 7.2 13 2 0.78 2018 MV 0 0 2.40 5 5 0 0 15.0 16 3 1.33 201 9 LC 1 4 4.95 10 9 0 0 36.1 32 15 1.46 Total 3 Teams 2 4 3.66 19 15 0 0 59.0 61 20 1.34 LAST TIME OUT: Royalty suffered through control issues on Saturday against the Lansing Lugnuts.