Fort Wayne — A day after allowing 11 runs on 11 hits to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Fort Wayne pitching staff rebounded nicely to lead the TinCaps to their first victory of the series in a 2-1 affair.
Fort Wayne starter Jamie Hitt set the tone of Saturday’s game. The 23-year-old left-hander out of the University of Oklahoma was masterful, going five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and punching out eight without a walk. He posted a strong 34.5% whiff rate.
“Jamie attacked the zone with both his slider and his fastball,” said TinCaps manager Jonathan Mathews. “He wasn’t afraid to throw the slider for strikes and was throwing the fastball with purpose. He went right after a pretty tough line-up.”
Clark Candiotti is looking to settle into his relief role. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
The first arm to follow Hitt out of the TinCaps bullpen was 2024 fourth-rounder, Clark Candiotti. The 25-year-old kept Wisconsin off the board for two innings while giving up one hit with a punchout. The right-hander generated three whiffs on the afternoon.
It’s just his third scoreless outing since moving to the bullpen while returning to Fort Wayne this season.
“Those middle innings, for this team, have been tough. For Clark to get us through the sixth and the seventh, that was huge for this group of guys,” said Mathews.
“Clark’s first outing was good, but then he struggled a couple of times. Today, he mixed pitches, and he isn’t afraid to throw off-speed pitches behind in the count. He did a good job of landing breaking balls and getting some swing and miss.”
Fort Wayne’s pitching allowed only four hits on the afternoon.
With the pitching handling business, the TinCaps offense did just enough to support their staff.
Fort Wayne didn’t log their first hit of the afternoon until the bottom of the fifth, when first baseman Jack Costello singled to right.
Jack Costello connected for the TinCaps’ first hit Saturday. (Photo: Jeff Nycz)
Both runs came in the bottom of the eighth inning when Oswaldo Linares drew a one-out walk, and Jake Cunningham lined a single to right to put runners on the corners. Cunningham, a former fifth-round selection of Baltimore, has a .979 OPS this season.
“Jake has been awesome,” Mathews said. “He’s about as toolsy of a position player as we have.”
Linares came in to score on an excellent bunt single from Kasen Wells. After Lamar King Jr. was hit by a pitch to load the bases one out later, Rosman Verdugo drew a walk to push across the winning run.
“Rosman struggled a bit at the beginning, but he’s getting going in the right direction now,” said Mathews. “He had a great play at second earlier, along with the RBI, so he definitely had a big impact on today’s game.”
