Late Fort Wayne Rally Dooms Loons
April 5, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release
MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons took a 2-0 lead into the ninth inning, but gave up six runs in the road half of the ninth to fall to the Fort Wayne TinCaps, 6-2, on Friday night at Dow Diamond.
"Once in a while, things will happen in this game that will be difficult to explain," Loons manager Razor Shines said. "I'll take that effort every night, win, lose or draw. If my kids play that hard and we come up on the short end of the stick, I've got no problem with it. It hurts, but I've got no problem with it. The bottom line is that we fought hard tonight and came up short."
The Loons opened the scoring in the first inning, scoring one run in the frame. The first three hitters all reached base and leadoff hitter Jeremy Rathjen scored on a fielder's choice from cleanup hitter Tyler Ogle.
Great Lakes pushed across another run in the home half of the sixth. After Ogle reached base on a single up the middle, Holland entered the game as pinch runner and stole second base. Holland advanced to third on a groundout and scored after a fielding error from TinCap shortstop Stephen Carmon.
The Loons used a great effort from their starter, Lindsey Caughel, and relief pitcher, Luis Meza, to build a 2-0 lead that they took into the ninth inning.
"[Caughel] commanded the strike zone with his fastball," Shines said. "He used his fastball on both sides of the plate and he was ahead of hitters all day long. He made himself awfully difficult to hit and he was outstanding."
After being shut out for eight innings, Fort Wayne exploded in the top of the ninth, keeping the Loons from their first win of the season. After two singles to start the frame, designated hitter Jeremy Baltz singled to left field to drive home the first run of the inning.
The second run of the inning tied the game and came on a close play at the plate. Cleanup hitter Gabriel Quintana hit a groundball to shortstop that was thrown home and second baseman Maxx Tissenbaum just beat the tag at home plate.
Baltz scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly from right fielder Brian Adams and then left fielder Alberth Martinez hit a two-run triple to extend the lead to 5-2. Martinez came home on a Stephen Carmon sacrifice fly for the last run of the inning.
Baltz, Martinez and catcher Rodney Daal all had multi-hit games for the TinCaps.
Caughel was dominant in six innings of work, holding Fort Wayne to two hits and no runs, while striking out six and allowing no walks, and would have been in line for the win.
"It's the first game of the year, so you have some butterflies in the stomach," Caughel said. "But I just tried to execute my gameplan as best as possible by pitching to contact and letting my defense play behind me and keep them on their toes. They made some great plays for me."
Max Fried, the San Diego Padres No. 2 prospect, started for the TinCaps. After a rocky first inning, Fried settled down and pitched four solid innings, only allowing one hit and one run. He struck out five and walked four.
Genison Reyes picked up the win in relief for the TinCaps. Daniel Carela was credited with the loss for the Loons.
Great Lakes (0-2) will be back in action on Saturday night, when they host the TinCaps (2-0) in the third game of a four-game set. Game time is at 6:05 p.m. Jharel Cotton is the probable starter for the Loons. Cotton had a 1.20 ERA in 15 innings pitched last season for Ogden. Justin Hancock will get the ball for the TinCaps. Hancock had a 1.61 ERA for the Eugene Emeralds as a starting pitcher last season, but struggled for the TinCaps, mostly as a reliever, finishing with a 6.95 ERA in Fort Wayne in 2012.
The Loons will also host a Final Four Viewing Party on Saturday night in the Great Lakes Reserve. Any person with a ticket to the Loons game can gain access to the event beginning at 8:40 p.m.
The Great Lakes Loons are a seventh-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For tickets and more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.
• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board...
Midwest League Stories from April 5, 2013
- Chiefs Fall 2-1 Friday Night - Peoria Chiefs
- Dunn Doubles in Loss to South Bend - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Kernels walk-off Beloit with two in 9th - Cedar Rapids Kernels
- Bandits' Late Rally Beats Cougars for 4-1 Win - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Bees Pick up 1st Win of 2013 Season - Burlington Bees
- Cougars Fall to 0-2 - Kane County Cougars
- Six-Run Ninth Inning Delivers Fort Wayne Win - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Rattlers edge Peoria for second straight win - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Captains Fall to Lugnuts 5-3 - Lake County Captains
- Late Fort Wayne Rally Dooms Loons - Great Lakes Loons
- Spotless Cole leads Lugnuts to first win, 5-3 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Captains Game Notes - Lake County Captains
- Hot Rods Homestand Notes April 8 - April 10 - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Whitecaps Top Dragons 6-0 on Friday - Dayton Dragons
- Robertson, 'Caps Roll to Two-Hit Shutout - West Michigan Whitecaps
The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.
