Whitecaps Lose Game, Series To Great Lakes
April 14, 2011 - Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps dropped the game and the series to the Great Lakes Loons on Thursday night, losing by a 3-1 score at Fifth Third Ballpark.
West Michigan (2-3) struggled to get anything going against Loons starter Tim Sexton, who fanned seven and allowed just one run on three hits over seven strong innings. Meanwhile, Great Lakes (5-3) scored all three of their runs on sacrifice flies to slowly build their lead.
The Loons pushed across an unearned run in the top of the fifth to start the scoring. Roman Pena led off and sent a bouncer to third, but reached base safely when an errant throw pulled the first baseman off the bag. After advancing to third on a single, Pena scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Chris Henderson.
Great Lakes added to the lead with singles runs in the sixth and eighth. They had the bases loaded with nobody out in the sixth when Blake Dean delivered a sacrifice fly, but the Whitecaps were able to escape further damage. Two innings later, Casio Grider tripled with one out and scored on Leon Landry's fly ball for a 3-0 advantage.
West Michigan got their only run in the bottom of the eighth, sparked by a leadoff single by Edwin Gomez. After Hernan Perez drew a two-out walk, Rob Brantly ripped a run-scoring single through the right side to make it a 3-1 ballgame.
Josue Carreno (0-1) suffered the loss despite allowing just one earned run (two total) on three hits over 5.1 innings. He issued five walks while striking out one and inducing a pair of groundball double plays.
Shawn Tolleson (4) earned his third save of the series by striking out the side in the ninth.
The Whitecaps hit the road for a three-game series in South Bend beginning with a 6:30 p.m. start on Friday night. LHP Kyle Ryan (0-0, 12.27) is scheduled to take the hill against RHP Bradin Hagens (0-0, 8.31) of the Silver Hawks. The 'Caps will return to Fifth Third Ballpark on Monday, April 18, to start a seven-game, six-day homestand with a 6:35 p.m. game against Fort Wayne featuring WirelessRevolutions/Sprint Night and a JQ 99 FM All Faiths Night. Group and individual tickets can be reserved by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or visiting whitecapsbaseball.com.
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