Anton and Loons Silence Captains
August 3, 2011 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release
MIDLAND, MI - Four Great Lakes Loons pitchers helped the team to their third shutout win of the season Wednesday night, in which they defeated the visiting Lake County Captains 3-0 at Dow Diamond before 4,526 fans.
Angel Sanchez made a scheduled abbreviated start, pitching the first inning for the Loons. He used nine pitches, seven for strikes, to retire the side before closing the books on his short night. He was relieved by lefty Rick Anton, recently drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round of the MLB Draft and added to the Loons roster in late July.
Anton ate up five innings for the Loons to pick up the first win of his professional career, improving his ERA from 2.00 to 1.29 in three appearances. The lefty limited the Captains to two hits, allowed no walks and struck out two, using mostly fastballs.
"We threw a lot of strikes tonight and just let our defense work," Anton said after the game. "My fastball was working, that's just about all I threw, not too many breaking balls tonight, just fastballs down into the zone."
Loons reliever Pete Budkevics entered the game in the top of the seventh and allowed only one hit through two frames before newly acquired Juan Rodriguez made his Dow Diamond debut. Rodriguez, who was involved in the Dodgers recent three-way trade with Boston and Seattle that sent former Loons outfielder Trayvon Robinson to the Mariners, brought the heat Wednesday night. After allowing the only walk from Loons pitchers of the night to his first batter, he settled in to strike out two Captains, twirling heaters at 96-99 m.p.h. His final strikeout ended the game, earning him his first save for the Loons.
Offensively the resourceful Loons used five hits to score three runs over the fourth and fifth innings. Chris Jacobs got the Loons on the board first with a single to left field that scored Bobby Coyle, while Charlie Mirabal, Leon Landry and Casio Grider connected for three consecutive singles in the fifth for two runs. Jacobs was the only player in the game to record multiple hits, going two-for-four with one RBI.
The Loons will continue their four-game series against the Lake County Captains on Thursday night and send LHP Greg Wilborn (2-2, 4.03) to the mound against the Captains RHP Felix Sterling (2-0, 2.38). The night will be part five of MidMichigan Health's six-part Red Wings Legends Series, where the first 1,000 fans entering the park will receive Gordie Howe bobbleheads. Gates will open at 6:00 p.m. for the 7:05 game.
The Great Lakes Loons are a fifth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and members of the Midwest League. For 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 August 3, 2011
- Bandits Down Kernels 8-4 - Quad Cities River Bandits
- Acosta Homers In Return To Spark Hot Rods Win - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Snappers Fall 6-1, Lose Fourth Straight - Beloit Sky Carp
- Anton and Loons Silence Captains - Great Lakes Loons
- Perez, Cougars Roll in Beloit - Kane County Cougars
- Cunningham Goes Deep Twice In 8-4 Loss - Fort Wayne TinCaps
- Chiefs Take Game Two - Burlington Bees
- Hayes Gets out of Jams, Dragons Take 3-2 Win - Dayton Dragons
- Lawrence, Lugnuts Stifle Silver Hawks, 6-1 - Lansing Lugnuts
- Loons Blank Captains 3-0 - Lake County Captains
- Lawrence and Lugnuts Even Series - South Bend Silver Hawks
- Casey Lawrence Joins Lugnuts - Lansing Lugnuts
- Rattlers Take Third Straight With Extra Inning Win Over Clinton - Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
- Hopkins' Single Lifts Rattlers in 12th - Clinton LumberKings
- Kane County Cougars Homestand Preview: August 6-12 - Kane County Cougars
- Dragons on TV Thursday and Friday - Dayton Dragons
- Dragons Announce Player of the Month Winners for July - Dayton Dragons
- Dragons Gameday for Wednesday, August 3 - Dayton Dragons
- Soto Promoted to Daytona as Morelli Returns - Peoria Chiefs
- Loons Find Win Despite Rain - Great Lakes Loons
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.
