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Lansing awake in time to win, 3-1

May 27, 2004
Lansing Lugnuts pitcher Ryan Dempster reaches back before a pitch during Wednesday's game against the West Michigan Whitecaps at Oldsmobile park in Lansing. Dempster posted five strikeouts in the 3-1 win. —

Lansing- A 10:35 a.m. start time is difficult for any baseball player, but an early game following a 3 1/2 hour, 11-inning game the night before would cause any team to get off to a sluggish start.

That's exactly what happened Wednesday morning as the Lansing Lugnuts struggled to find any hits for the first four innings, before the Lugnuts rediscovered their bats to pull out a 3-1 win over the West Michigan Whitecaps.

"It's a little hard to get up in the morning and it took a few innings for us to wake up," Lansing left fielder Kevin Collins said.

Neither team came close to scoring early. The Lugnuts could not buy a hit, going three-and-out the first four innings.

Lansing (28-18) awoke in the fifth inning when a Collins walk gave the Lugnuts their first runner. Catcher Jake Fox singled and both were driven in when second baseman Robinson Chirinos hit a double.

West Michigan (17-28) rebounded early in the sixth off first baseman Kelly Hunt's single to bring in third baseman Kody Kirkland.

With the score 2-1 heading into the seventh, the Whitecaps could not capitalize on a wild pitch that sent shortstop Tony Giarratano to third.

The Lugnuts added a final run in the seventh to make the score 3-1.

While West Michigan had trouble garnering hits, they might have been suffering from a bit of shell shock. It was the second game in a row that the Caps' hitters had to face a major league pitcher.

A day after Mark Prior's second rehab start in Lansing, Ryan Dempster made his first rehab start for the Lugnuts after having Tommy John surgery. The former Florida Marlins and Cincinnati Reds starter was acquired by Chicago this off-season coming back from the invasive surgery that replaces ligaments in the elbow.

"It's the first time in ten months that I had started a game that meant anything," Dempster said. "It was pretty exciting for me to get back out pitching. I don't know if it was being nervous or just anxiety, but I think there was nervous energy than actually having nerves about pitching."

Dempster lasted three innings, making 46 pitches with five strikeouts, two hits and no runs.

Dempster likely will make three to four more starts with the Lugnuts and could make his next start in Cedar Rapids during Lansing's road trip this weekend.

Lansing manager Julio Garcia said he was pleased with Dempster's performance and also with his team's ability to make the hits when it counted.

"We had some timely hitting and we played well enough to let the few runs hold up," Garcia said.

"I thought both teams did a good job considering the little time they had to recover from the game the night before."

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