Lake County Captains: Pitching spearheads doubleheader sweep of West Michigan

Francisco Perez recalls throwing six innings of one-hit ball last season at short-season Mahoning Valley. In spring training, he scattered two hits over five frames.

Otherwise, he hadn’t come too close to throwing a no-hitter until April 25.

Perez worked through 6 1/3 no-hit innings in the first game of the Captains’ doubleheader with West Michigan. After he walked the bases loaded in the seventh, James Karinchak relieved him and retired the next two batters to conclude a 4-0 Captains win and their first no-hitter since 2011.

The Captains followed with a 6-3 victory in the nightcap. Domingo Jimenez, Kyle Nelson and Jonathan Teaney compiled 6 1/3 innings of scoreless relief as the Captains surmounted an early deficit.

Overall, the Captains improved to 10-8 and held the Whitecaps scoreless in 13 of 14 innings.

Perez entered the game with a 5.19 ERA in 8 2/3 innings spanning two starts. The 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic credited improved command of his sinker and two-seam fastball in his success.

“I’m working with my sinker on the outside corner,” Perez said. “They make a lot of swings to my sinker. I saw that and say ‘come on, let’s throw the sinker.’ ”

Perez worked around three errors and six walks as he nearly completed his no-hit bid. Perez (1-0) struck out four.

The Indians signed the left-hander as a non-drafted free agent in 2014. Perez went 4-4 with a 3.28 ERA in 15 starts for Mahoning Valley last season.

Perez worked primarily off his fastball and mixed in more breaking pitches as he pitched deeper into his start. Captains manager Luke Carlin noticed Perez’s improvement in attacking the strike zone with his fastball.

“He had a little bit more command with it,” Carlin said. “He was a little more aggressive with it, obviously he was throwing his changeup and his curveball for strikes. It was nice, he did a job executing his pitches today.”

Will Benson, a first-round draft pick in 2016 and the Indians’ No. 7-ranked prospect, hit two home runs to right field. Jonathan Laureano added a solo home run and Austen Wade’s RBI double accounted for the Captains’ offense in the first game.

Benson’s home runs each towered as they sailed over the 320-foot fence in right field. They sailed to nearly-identical landing spots, and almost carried over the indoor batting cages located beyond the wall.

The left-handed right fielder’s third and fourth home runs of the year provided insight into Benson’s prized power potential.

“Man, I thought they were going to go over the building,” Carlin said. “I know they hit on top of it but yeah, it was something special for sure.”

After Perez and Karinchak completed their no-hitter, Kirk McCarty’s no-hit bid in the nightcap lasted for one batter. Cole Peterson led off the first inning with a single, and McCarty did not survive the first as West Michigan built a 3-0 lead.

While the Captains’ bullpen held the Whitecaps scoreless for the rest of the game, Nolan Jones’ two-run, opposite field home run to left cut their deficit to one, 3-2, in the home first. The Captains tied the score in the third after Wade and Jorma Rodriguez led off with back-to-back doubles.

Todd Isaac’s RBI double put the Captains ahead in the fifth and he scored on a wild pitch. Wade’s solo home run in the sixth gave the Captains a 6-3 edge.

Jimenez (3-0) struck out six and walked three in 3 1/3 hitless innings. Teaney pickd up his second save with a clean seventh.

The Captains’ lineup features a handful of quality hitters whose skill should carry them on major-league trajectories. But, indicative of the performance April 25, Carlin likes what he has in his pitching staff, too.

“It’s been tough to evaluate with the cold weather,” Carlin said. “But they’ve done a nice job and they should continue to do so.”