The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Captains’ Allen has another strong start
Indians’ 2020 second-round draft choice pitches five shutout innings in victory
If you want to watch the other Logan Allen in the Indians organization without driving a long distance, you should make plans soon to attend Classic Park when he is pitching, because he might not be with the High-A Captains for long.
Allen, a 2020 second-round draft pick from Florida International, dispatched the TinCaps with five shutout innings May 12 to pace the Captains past Fort Wayne, 5-3, before 1,190 fans on the corner of Route 91 and Vine Street.
It wasn’t quite a carbon copy of his debut in Lansing
last week when Allen held the Lugnuts scoreless in five innings while striking out eight and allowing only one hit in a 3-1 Captains win, but it was close enough.
The TinCaps managed five hits off Allen, but he posted five zeroes again and struck out seven batters for a nifty 2-0 record and even shinier 0.00 ERA. He gave up a double and two walks to load the bases in the top of the fifth inning, but got out of the jam by getting Tirso Ormelas on a called strike three.
“I think a testament of any good young pitcher is what do they do when they falter or are in trouble?” Captains manager Greg DiCenzo said. “How do they compete when the walls are closing in on them a little bit? He hasn’t had a lot of that. That means you’re pitching
great, obviously.
“But tonight he had a few of those. He gave up a couple extra base hits. The last inning there was a little heat on him. I was excited to see him work himself out of that. I think that’s going to be huge for his development.”
Allen, 22 years old and 6-foot, 170 pounds, did not pitch last season because all of minor league baseball was wiped out by the pandemic.
The other Logan Allen, who started the season with the Indians, was sent to Columbus on April 28. He gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 innings in a 9-0 loss to Louisville last week.
Hustle by the Captains batters and Allen’s pitching was a winning combination for Lake County. The Captains stole four bases after
stealing five on May 11 in a 3-0 shutout of Fort Wayne.
Leadoff batter Jose Tena singled on a pop fly behind third base to start the bottom of the first to get the May 12 surge moving. Tena took second on a ground out and stole third when Bryan Lavastida walked. Tena scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by George Valera.
Jumping on every opportunity was the theme all night for the Captains. Raynel Delgado singled, stole second and scored in the second inning on an infield single by Daniel Schneeman after moving to third on a fly ball to center
Tena homered in the bottom of the third and the Captains were on their way. They tacked on single runs in the fifth and seventh innings.