Hot Rods throttle Miniard, Captains

Over the course of a 140game season, minor-league baseball teams are bound to experience highs and lows.

The Lake County Captains will attest to that.

On July 1, the Captains put together two of their best efforts of the season in a doubleheader sweep of the Bowling Green (Ky.) Hot Rods. They pitched well, hit in the clutch and smacked five home runs, including a grand slam by infielder Alexis Pantoja.

One day later, the Captains looked like a different team in a 7-1 loss to the Hot Rods in front of 4,031 paying customers at Classic Park.

Bowling Green pounced early and often against Lake County starter and eventual loser Micah Miniard (2-7, 5:40 ERA). They got to the 21-year-old righthander, who happens to be a Kentucky native, for five runs, all earned, on seven hits in three innings

The Hot Rods scored one run in the top of the first and two runs in the top of the second and third innings to put Miniard and the Captains in a 5-1 hole. Garrett Whitley connected for a two-run home run in the top of the second inning

True to the up-and-down motif, Miniard’s misfire of a start followed his best outing of the season in a 5-2 home victory over Great Lakes on June 26. In the opener of this eight-game homestand, Miniard gave up one run on three hits in seven innings.

“He threw a lot of balls and got behind in a lot of counts against a good-hitting team,” Captains manager Larry Day said. “We took him out early because