Tom Robson Leads Lugnuts to Third Straight Playoff Win
By Jay Blue
Blue Jays from Away
While they’re not making things easy, the Lansing Lugnuts have come up on the right side of their first three playoff games of 2015 and have taken a 1-0 lead in their best-of-three series against the West Michigan Whitecaps.

B.C. native Tom Robson was on the hill, making another start in his comeback season from Tommy John surgery and had his good stuff, allowing only a solo home run as one of four hits with just one walk in his longest start of the season, six innings. Robson allowed the home run in the bottom of the first inning after the Lugnuts had scored two but the club never relinquished the lead.

Robson struggled through the second inning, hitting a batter and walking one but got a ground out and a fly out to end the inning. Robson hit another batter in the fourth but erased Christin Stewart after inducing a double play ball by Joey Pankake. In the fifth Robson allowed just a single and he had a 1-2-3 sixth inning, striking out his only two batters of the game.

By this time, the Lugnuts had built up a 5-1 lead. Chris Carlson had led off the game with a single and, with two outs, was brought home by a double from Ryan McBroom who, in turn, was driven in by a D.J. Davis single. In the fifth, Gunnar Heidt hit a one-out double and was driven by Carlson’s second hit of the game. In the sixth, D.J. Davis took a walk to get a rally started and was followed by a single from David Harris. Justin Atkinson singled, scoring Davis, and Danny Jansen reached first on an error, scoring Harris.

Carlos Ramirez entered the game in the seventh inning and was only able to get two outs, giving up two runs before Tim Mayza relieved him. Mayza got a fly out to end the inning and powered through the West Michigan order in the eighth, striking out a pair. In the ninth, however, Mayze surrendered a solo home run to Francisco Contreras before getting two outs in the infield to finish the game and earn the save.

The Lugnuts continue their semi-final series against the Whitecaps on Sunday night (at 7:05 pm) at home in Lansing with Starlyn Suriel (8-8, 4.16 ERA) on the mound to take on West Michigan’s Artie Lewicki (3-4, 3.52 ERA).

Player of the Game: Davis and Robson

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