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Tigers' prospects Liranzo, Campos homer in Whitecaps' shutout win

PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP, MI. -- Two Detroit Tigers' prospects crushed homeruns at LMCU Ballpark near Grand Rapids on Friday night in the West Michigan Whitecaps' 8-0 whitewashing of the Beloit Sky Carp.

The Whitecaps improved to 54-51 on the season.

Thayron Liranzo, the catcher/first baseman who came over to the Tigers' organization in the July 30 trade deadline deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers (along with shortstop Trey Sweeney), drilled his eighth homerun of the season over the left field fence, a two-run shot. The crowd of 7,295 roared its approval as another prospect, Kevin McGonigle, was the first to cross the plate ahead of Liranzo. It was one of three runs McGonigle scored on a night where the left-handed hitting shortstop had two walks but no hits. Liranzo had four hits on the night.

Liranzo is rated by MLB.com as the Tigers' number 5 prospect; he was the Dodgers' number 8 prospect. He is 21 years old, a switch hitter who signed with the Tigers in 2021 for $30,000 out of the Dominican Republic.

McGonigle was the Tigers' 37th overall pick in the 2023 draft as a Competitive Balance Round A selection. The 19-year-old is rated by MLB.com as the organization's number 4 prospect.

Not to be outdone, Roberto Campos clobbered a three-run homerun over the right center-field fence in the 5th frame, scoring Liranzo and McGonigle. Campos's ninth round-tripper of the season made the score 8-0. Like Liranzo, Campos is a 6-foot-3 inches tall and 21 years old. Campos defected to the Dominican Republic from Cuba during an international tournament when he was 13 years old. According to MLB.com, the Tigers have timed Campos as fast as 6.9 seconds at 60 feet.

Lefthander Joe Miller allowed only four hits in six innings of shutout pitching for the Whitecaps, and two of those were infield hits. Indeed, the first was on a ground ball fielded by the first baseman, who threw to Miller, who failed to get over to first base in time to beat the runner. Miller is a soft tosser: his fastball only reached 89 miles per hour one time. But he mixes his speeds well and keeps the batters off stride. His record improved to 3-3 on the season.

The Hatboro, Pennsylvania product was selected by the Tigers in the 11th round of the 2022 draft.

Max Alba, who has a solid 3.40 earned-run average, pitched two innings of relief, striking out three batters and allowing one hit. Former Notre Dame righthander Tanner Kohlhepp struck out two and walked one batter in a one-inning relief stint. Altogether, the Whitecaps pitchers allowed only five hits on a 71-degree, windy night that began with a tribute to former President Gerald R. Ford on the 50-year anniversary of when he took the oath of office as the 38th president of the United States in 1974.

A brief clip of that historic moment was shown on the video screen in left field before the start of the game. Ford’s nephew, Greg Ford, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Some footage also was shown of President Ford throwing out the first pitch at the 1976 Major League All-Star Game. Some on-field comments were made in tribute Friday night, as well. Free bobbleheads were given as gifts to some of the first fans through the gates, and a Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum table was set up on the concourse.

Ford played football, basketball and track on the Grand Rapids South High School teams. He later played center on the University of Michigan football team and was its Most Valuable Player in 1934.

Emmett Olson was Beloit's starting pitcher and took the loss, allowing eight runs over 4-1/3rd innings, but two of them were unearned due to a Brock Vradenburg error at first base. Edgar Sanchez pitched 1-2/3rds innings of scoreless relief for Beloit and Yeuris Jiminez surrendered no runs in his 2-inning relief stint.

The game last 2 hours and 6 minutes under what began with partly sunny conditions and ended with dark clouds and some rain drops.

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The Whitecaps' Roberto Campos hits a three-run homer in the 5th inning Friday night at LMCU Ballpark.Photo: Courtesy: Whitecaps baseball.


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