MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Great Lakes Loses Fifth Consecutive Game

August 18, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons (58-67, 31-24) dropped their fifth consecutive game on Sunday afternoon, falling to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (64-60, 21-34), 4-3, in the second game of a four-game series at Dow Diamond. The loss gives Great Lakes their first five-game losing streak since early June.

"Fort Wayne has come in and played some pretty good baseball," Loons manager Razor Shines said. "They made plays; nobody likes to lose, but I can handle losing when the kids are playing hard and busting their butts. The only thing we can control is the way we approach the game. We're going to go at it at hard and whatever the results end up being, we're going to live with it."

Fort Wayne started the scoring in the first inning when three-hitter Diego Goris, who went 2-for-4 in the game, singled up the middle in the road half of the frame to drive in leadoff hitter Mallex Smith for the first run of the game.

Great Lakes three-hitter Aaron Miller, who was 2-for-4, provided an early response with his eighth home run of the season in the bottom of the first, a solo homer that went 403 feet to center field and tied the score, 1-1.

"To be honest, they just missed with a couple of pitches," Miller said. "One got over the middle of the plate and I got ahold of it."

"Aaron has been swinging the bat extremely well lately," Shines added. "He's been hitting balls really hard and not getting rewarded for them. He's come a long ways from pitching to start the year and picking up hitting midway through the season."

Chris Anderson, the Los Angeles Dodgers No. 7 prospect, started for the Loons and pitched three innings, giving up one run on one hit. Anderson had one strikeout and two walks.

TinCaps two-hitter Alberth Martinez broke the tie in the fifth inning with a 385-foot three-run home run to left-center field, scoring Smith and Maxx Tissenbaum to put Fort Wayne ahead 4-1.

Brandon Martinez (1-4) threw 4 1/3 innings of relief for Great Lakes. Martinez gave up three runs on six hits and took credit for the loss, while striking out three.

The Loons scored two runs in the sixth to cut into the deficit. With two outs, five-hitter Jeremy Rathjen doubled off the top of the left field wall and scored on a single from Devin Shines, who was 2-for-4 on the day. Shines advanced to second base on an error by Martinez in right field before scoring on a Brandon Trinkwon single.

"I'm just working with (Mike) Eylward here to try and get back to an approach that I've had success with in the past," Shines said. "We're just trying to simplify things and I got a couple of good pitches today that I could get the bat on."

"It's about time Devin has got some hits because he's been due for a couple," added Razor Shines, Loons manager and Devin's father. "He's better than he's shown here, so hopefully this is a start that he can build on and help us get to a position where we can acquire a playoff spot."

Zach Elfin (7-5), the San Diego Padres No. 12 prospect, started for the TinCaps and gave Fort Wayne a quality start, throwing six solid innings to pick up the win. Elfin gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits, while striking out one and walking one.

Fort Wayne retired the last 10 Loons hitters to finish the game. Ruben Mejia threw two scoreless innings, with four strikeouts, including striking out the side in the eighth against the Loons' three, four and five hitters. Trevor Gott pitched a scoreless ninth to pick up his fourth save of the season.

With the loss, Great Lakes drops to 1 1/2 games behind the Bowling Green Hot Rods and the South Bend Silver Hawks for first place in the Midwest League Eastern Division. Bowling Green beat South Bend on Sunday by a score of 7-1. The Dayton Dragons knocked off the West Michigan Whitecaps, 4-2, on Sunday and are now just a half-game back of the Loons for the Eastern Division's second-half wildcard spot in the upcoming MWL playoffs.

Great Lakes and Fort Wayne play the third game of a four-game series on Monday night. The Loons are expected to start Dodgers No. 9 prospect Tom Windle (4-0, 1.82 ERA). Left-handed pitcher Max Fried (6-5, 3.54), the Padres No. 1 prospect, is slated to start for the TinCaps. Game time is 7:05 p.m. It is a Social Media Monday at Dow Diamond.

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.

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