MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Great Lakes Loses to Bandits

Published on July 16, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, MI - The Great Lakes Loons (11-13, 45-49) brought the game-tying run to the plate in the ninth inning of Monday night's Loons game at Dow Diamond, but were unable to see it through as the Quad Cities River Bandits (48-45, 13-11) held on for the 6-2 victory in front of 3,504 Loons fans.

Great Lakes received two walks in the ninth from the Bandits Jonathan Cornelius before closer Heath Wyatt beaned James Baldwin to load the bases with two outs. Darnell Sweeney stepped to the plate and hit a fly ball to left field that Anthony Garcia was able to run down for the final out. Despite the loss, the Loons walked away with the 2-1 series win, having won the first two contests, and finished the homestand 4-2. The Loons were unable to sweep either opponent, which makes the team 1-4 when having the chance.

The three-game series against Quad Cities was managed by Razor Shines, filling in for John Shoemaker, who was serving a three-game suspension issued by the Midwest League for his ejection from the July 1 game against Fort Wayne.

"The guys have played well," Shoemaker said in reflection of the series, after watching the team from a different perspective. "Razor has got managing experience, [so] our kids are not really losing anything by having someone like him running the club. I didn't like being out of uniform...but I'm happy to see the guys do well and play hard. Even [tonight] we had the bases loaded with two outs in the ninth and had a shot to win the ball game."

The Loons scored their only runs in the sixth, during O'Koyea Dickson's at-bat. With runners on the corners, Cornelius was called for a balk, scoring Darnell Sweeney, who was hit by Cornelius to get on, and moving Winker to second. Cornelius then chucked a wild pitch that advanced Winker, who scored on Dickson's sac-fly. The Loons finished with five hits.

After two consecutive winning starts, Loons pitcher Arismendy Ozoria took the loss, his fifth, allowing two runs on six hits and one walk across three innings. Joel Lima also surrendered a pair of runs over three innings. Juan Noriega entered in the seventh on a 12-inning shutout streak, dating back to June 29, but the streak ended in the eighth after two hits and two walks.

The Great Lakes Loons will have an off day on Tuesday before hitting the road for a six-game trip to Wisconsin. The team returns to Dow Diamond on Wednesday, July 25, to host the Dayton Dragons to a three-game series. The night will be the fourth part of the Red Wings Legends Series, presented by MidMichigan Health, where the first 1,000 fans will receive a Mark Howe bobblehead.

The Great Lakes Loons are a sixth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and are in the middle of their 5th Anniversary Celebration, which kicked off in August 2011 and will continue throughout the 2012 season. For more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.

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Midwest League Stories from July 16, 2012


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