Captains earn first sweep of the season

On a day in which three members of the team were named to the MWL Eastern Division All-Star team, the Captains beat the Dayton Dragons to finish off their first series sweep of 2018.

Three members of the Captains are headed to the Midwest League All-Star Game in Lansing, Mich., on June 19.

Outfielder Will Benson will be joined by relief pitchers Tommy DeJuneas and Kyle Nelson on the Eastern Division team. The game will be staged at Cooley Law School Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts.

Benson, who will turn 20 on June 16, is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 8 prospect in the Cleveland Indians’ organization.

The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Georgia native was selected by the Indians with the 14th overall pick in the first round of the June 2016 draft out of high school.

In 53 games this season, Benson is batting .200 with 11 home runs and 25 RBI. Although his batting average and 66 strikeouts in 175 at-bats are areas of concern, Benson is tied for the league lead in home runs with Alex Kirilloff of Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Kernels. He has homered in every 15.9 at-bats this season, tops in the MWL.

Benson is coming off his best performance of the season on June 6 in an 8-5 victory over the Dayton Dragons at Classic Park. The left-handed slugger connected for the first grand slam of his professional career in the bottom of the first inning. He added a solo blast in the bottom of the eighth.

DeJuneas is 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA and a team-high three saves. In 17 appearances covering 26 1./3 innings, the 22-year-old right-hander has notched 34 strikeouts and issued six walks. He was selected by the Indians in the 26th round of the June 2017 draft out of North Carolina State.

Nelson is 3-1 with a 0.44 ERA. In 12 appearances covering 20 1/3 innings, the 21-year-old left-hander has 26 strikeouts while issuing only two walks. He was the Indians’ 15th-round pick in the June 2017 draft out of UC-Santa Barbara.

Benson