Foss Shines as Captains Beat Dragons 2-0

The Lake County Captains won their third straight game against the Dayton Dragons 2-0 on the back of former Independent league pitcher Trevor Foss.  Lake County took 3 of 4 in the wrap-around series.

3 Dayton mistakes led to a gift run for the Captains in the 1st.  Juan De La Cruz singled with 2 outs, moved to second on a passed ball, went to third with a balk, and scored on a fielding error from second baseman Brantley Bell to give Lake County a 1-0 lead.

Another error from Bell in the 4th loaded the bases for Ordomar Valdez, who hit a sacrifice fly to left center field to give the Captains a 2-0 lead.

Foss made his second start for Lake County after being signed from the Washington (PA) Wild Things of the Independent Frontier League on August 2nd.  The former Angels 22nd-round draft pick scattered four singles over six scoreless frames while striking out 4.  Manager Tony Mansolino said he had better command than in his first outing where he gave up 5 runs in 4 innings.

“He pitched well,” Mansolino said. “He used his fastball probably a little bit better than he did in Great Lakes in terms of how he located it.”

Foss said he had doubts he would make it back to affiliated ball at 26, but he kept playing wherever he could.

“I don’t know that there was much faith of coming back, but I refused to quit playing,” Foss said. “I just play because I don’t want to do anything else. I just want to keep playing baseball.”

Just 10 days ago, Foss was pitching in Washington leading the Frontier League with 8 wins and 8 complete games to go along with a 2.50 ERA.  He’s now 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 2 starts with the Captains.  On Sunday night, fellow former independent league pitcher Jon Fitzsimmons struck out all six batters he faced in relief for Lake County.

Captains relievers Christian Meister and Leandro Linares gave the Captains three solid relief innings, combining for no runs, no hits, and 2 strikeouts.  The biggest threat to a Lake County win was some rain showers that blew through Classic Park in the 8th inning, as they cruised to a 2-0 win.

Lake County improves to 59-55 and 19-25 in the second half.  After an off day Wednesday, the Captains will travel to Great Lakes for a 4-game weekend series with the Loons.