MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Beat Dayton, Take One Step Closer to Playoffs

August 28, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons (65-69, 38-26) used a three-run fourth inning and great pitching to knock off the Dayton Dragons (63-71, 35-30), 4-1, on Wednesday night in the first game of a three-game series at Dow Diamond. The Great Lakes win puts them in a position to clinch a playoff spot on Thursday night.

"We're hoping to clinch tomorrow, that is the objective," Loons manager Razor Shines said. "This is baseball and things sometimes don't go as planned, so we're taking things one at a time. We're looking forward to tomorrow, and if we win the game, that's the goal that we've been working towards."

Both teams were scoreless heading into the fourth inning, with just two hits each, but the Loons broke through with three runs in the fourth. Great Lakes two-hitter Leo Rodriguez walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second base on a Jeremy Rathjen sacrifice bunt before scoring on a single from Aaron Miller, who was 2-for-4 on the night. Miller scored when James Baldwin hit a 385-foot home run to right field, extending the Loons early lead to 3-0.

Baldwin went 2-for-2 in the game, along with a walk and a triple in the second inning that he almost turned into an inside-the-park home run.

"I kind of slipped rounding third; if I hadn't slipped, I think I could've made it," Baldwin said. "But they made a good throw to get me out and I didn't let it affect my next at-bat."

"James Baldwin was a special player tonight," Shines added. "He was the type of kid that we are hoping can do things like that on a more consistent basis. This kid, you know he can run and you know he can field, but when he swings the bat like he did tonight, he's just a tremendous talent."

Julio Urias, the Dodgers No. 4 prospect, started for the Loons and threw four scoreless innings, giving up only two hits and striking out five, while issuing no walks in his last start of the regular season at Dow Diamond.

"Even if (Urias) had not had his innings limited tonight, they still might have had only two hits," Shines said. "He was filthy and he was throwing everything for strikes. One of the hits should've been caught, James misplayed the ball in center field; he would catch that ball nine times out of 10. I'm real excited about the pitching tonight. When we pitch well and catch the baseball, it's going to be tough to beat us."

Great Lakes added another run in the fifth inning, with Brandon Trinkwon, who was 2-for-3, scoring from second base on a single from Robbie Garvey, who was 2-for-4.

The Dragons started Jackson Stephens (3-6), who went 5 2/3 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits to take the loss. Stephens struck out four and walked one.

Dayton's only run of the game came in the sixth inning. Dragons two-hitter Jon Matthews singled to right field, driving in shortstop Zach Vincej from second.

Geoff Brown (12-1) came into the game in relief of Urias and gave up one run on four hits in four innings, while striking out four and walking one. Brown picked up the win for the Loons, his 12th of the season, which makes him the league leader in wins for the Midwest League, despite only making one start in 2013.

"My fastball command was huge today," Brown said. "That was the biggest thing. My slider started working later and the change-up was always there. Overall, it was just pounding the zone and getting ahead early in counts and getting early contact."

Owen Jones pitched the ninth to finish the game for Great Lakes, setting Dayton down in order to pick up his sixth save of 2013.

With the win, the Loons are now 3 1/2 games ahead of the Dragons for the second-half Eastern Division wildcard spot in the Midwest League playoffs, with five games left in the regular season. If Great Lakes beats Dayton on Thursday night in game two of a three-game series, they eliminate Dayton from postseason contention and clinch a playoff spot.

The Loons and Dragons play the second game of their three-game series on Thursday night at Dow Diamond. Game time is 7:05 p.m. Dodgers No. 7 prospect Chris Anderson (3-0, 2.14 ERA) is slated to start for Great Lakes. Dayton is expected to start the Cincinnati Reds No. 10 Sal Romano (7-10, 4.84), a 6-foot-4, 250-pound right-hander. Thursday is also a $1 Family Feast Night, presented by Chemical Bank. Fans at Dow Diamond can enjoy hot dogs, Better Made Potato Chips, 16 oz. Coca-Cola products and ice creams sandwiches for one dollar apiece.

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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