MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Great Lakes Pummels Lansing

August 9, 2010 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


The Great Lakes Loons dominated both sides of the field Sunday afternoon, finding 15 hits and pitching into the record books for the 11-0 shutout over the Lansing Lugnuts.

The Loons assault on the Lugnuts began in the second inning as catcher Gorman Erickson hit a single to right field that scored Blake Smith, who reached base on a walk. Bryant Hernandez added two more for good measure with a bases-clearing double to go up 3-0. But the big inning for the Loons was the third, where the home team found six runs on seven hits off of Lansing starter Ryan Tepera.

Loons second baseman Rafael Ynoa set the pace for the inning, leading off with a solo homer to right field, his sixth of the season. Smith and Cavazos-Galvez reached on two base hits to right, before Brian Ruggiano's liner to centerfield landed ahead of a diving Jake Marisnick for a run.

Tepera issued a walk to Chris Jacobs to load the bases for Erickson, who singled in Cavazos-Galvez. Outfielder Stetson Banks moved the runners on an RBI-single to centerfield and then Ynoa's single scored the final two runs of the inning for the 9-0 lead.

While the Loons batters were racking up the hits, starting pitcher Greg Wilborn was similarly racking up the strikeouts. The lefty, making his Dow Diamond debut, matched a franchise record for strikeouts, fanning 12 Lugnuts to become the third Loon in team history to do so, the most recent time being 2008 Loons pitcher Victor Garate's performance on 7/5.

"Honestly, I didn't even know [about the record] until I got done and a couple of guys told me," Wilborn said. "But it's a great feeling and to be up there with [Garate]. It's awesome. Getting ahead with the fastball was a big part of it, and obviously when your offense puts up runs like that it makes it nice and easy to pitch.

Wilborn held Lansing to three hits through seven innings, setting the framework for the Loons 11th shutout of the season. Ji-Mo Lee tossed a scoreless 1-2-3 eighth inning, while Andy Suiter pitched in the ninth to preserve the shutout.

Additional Loons runs came from Cavazos-Galvez, who solo homered in the fourth and an RBI-fielder's choice play in the sixth. All nine of the Loons batters recorded at least one hit, while six of them had two-hit days.

The Loons (75-36) will play game three of four against Lansing Monday night at Dow Diamond. LHP Ryan Christenson (9-5, 4.38) against the Lugnuts righty Ryan Shopshire (7-9, 5.10). Dow Diamond will also celebrate Viva Las Vegas Night on Monday.

The Great Lakes Loons are a fourth-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.

Check out the Great Lakes Loons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from August 9, 2010


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.

OurSports Central