MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Late Charge Not Enough

Published on June 2, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, Mich. - On an unseasonably chilly Saturday night in early June, the Great Lakes Loons could not break the code laid down by Fort Wayne TinCaps starter Osvaldo Hernandez, and despite a late charge fell to the San Diego Padres affiliate 5-3 at Dow Diamond in front of a crowd of 4,239.

With a temperature of 60 degrees at first pitch and a stiff wind blowing in front left field all night, Hernandez (W, 3-2) tossed six shutout innings allowing just five Loons baserunners. The TinCaps (26-28) were able to build a 5-0 before he exited the game thanks in large part to a Justin Lopez who went 3-for-3 with two walks and Tirso Ornelas's two-run home run in the seventh inning.

Loons starter Alfredo Tavarez (L, 0-2) surrendered an RBI-single to Lopez that brought in Robbie Podorsky in the first inning, while Podorsky scored again in the third on a throwing error by the Loons infield. Other than those two blemishes, it was a pretty good showing from the 20-year-old right-hander who, in his last outing, was pulled from the game on May 28 against the Lake County Captains with a no-hitter intact into the sixth inning. Tavarez finished the game against Fort Wayne with five strikeouts in four innings of work.

After the TinCaps tacked on three more runs in the seventh inning against reliever Melvin Jimenez to push their lead to 5-0, the Loons bats finally did wake up.

Romer Cuadrado hit his second home run of the season in the bottom half of the seventh for the first run of the game. Carlos Rincon then doubled home both Marcus Chiu and Jared Walker to cut into the deficit further at 5-3 headed to the final frame.

Apart from what proved to be a harmless lead-off walk issued by Connor Strain, the visitors were set down in order after that. Gersel Pitre and Mitchell Hansen followed with back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the ninth to put Great Lakes in business. But a strikeout by Moises Perez and a fly out from Brayan Morales ended the game with a whimper.

The loss was the Loons' third in a row following their first three-game winning streak of the season over Memorial Day weekend against the Captains. The series and homestand finale is set for Sunday afternoon against the TinCaps at 2:05 p.m.

After a quick three-game road trip against the West Michigan Whitecaps next week, the Loons will be right back at Dow Diamond from June 8-14 for a lengthy seven-game homestand. It will be the last home games for the Loons before the Midwest League All-Star Break.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team's home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.

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Midwest League Stories from June 2, 2018


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