MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -LAKEWOOD, NJ - After a night where the Lakewood BlueClaws got a big hit with runners in scoring position, it was more of the same on this homestand, stranding runners and being shut down with runners on. The BlueClaws fell 8-4 to the Lake County Captains on Friday night.

In a crazy game, BlueClaws (21-20) starter Justin De Fratus struggled in the second inning before settling down nicely. In the second, a 36-pitch inning, De Fratus allowed singles to lead things off by Karexon Sanchez and Donnie Webb before the first run-scoring double of the inning, this one by John Allman. The Captains (22-19) then got Michael Valadez on with a hit by pitch, same result to Mark Thompson before the second, two-run double, this one by Bo Greenwell.

De Fratus (5-5) only allowed 51 pitches in the other five innings combined as he worked six in the game.
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The BlueClaws though, were nipped again by the hitting with runners in scoring position bug as the BlueClaws let a number of chances get away. The first of which was in a two-run fourth, Jim Murphy grounded into a double play with runners at the corners and no one out.

The second missed opportunity was in a one-run fifth as the BlueClaws had the bases loaded and Francisco Jiminez (3-0) came in with no outs and struck out three straight to keep the Captains in the lead.

The third big missed opportunity came in the seventh as the BlueClaws had a run in with the bases loaded and one out and Matthew Langwell got Travis d'Arnaud to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.

TJ McFarland worked well in the first three innings, but struggled in the fourth and was lifted in the fifth. He allowed two runs.

For the BlueClaws, Travis Mattair had two hits, his fourth extra-base hit in as many days and Troy Hanzawa and Kyle Lafrez also added two hits.

In a 4-3 game in the seventh, Freddy Ballestas came into the ballgame and struggled. He allowed three runs, after getting ahead of the first hitter he walked Jermie Tice and the wheels seemed to have fallen off.

The BlueClaws have struggled on this nine-game homestand and are just 3-5 in the eight games.

The BlueClaws and Captains will wrap things up on Saturday at 7:05, the final game in both the homestand and the five-game series. The BlueClaws will send Jesus Sanchez (8-5) to the mound, the lone pitcher not to start in this series and the Captains will start their third straight lefty TJ House (3-8).

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