MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Get Back to Winning in a Big Way

Published on July 3, 2013 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons (38-46, 11-3) bounced back from their first loss in eight games with style on Wednesday night, beating the West Michigan Whitecaps (39-45, 6-8) by a score of 8-0 in front of a crowd of 6,004, the eighth largest crowd in Dow Diamond history. Loons pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and did not issue a walk all game.

Julio Urias (2-0) had arguably his best game in his young professional career. The 16-year-old native of Culiacan Rosales, Mexico did not allow a baserunner until the fourth inning and only allowed two in his six innings of work. He held the Whitecaps to two hits and struck out eight in six frames.

"Tonight what really helped me was all the work I've been putting in since I got here," Urias said. "It is really starting to pay off. Plus I was able to throw all of my pitches for strikes and I was finishing batters."

"Urias was outstanding tonight," Loons manager Razor Shines said. "He's 16 years-old and the fact that he can dominate a professional baseball game the way he did tonight is unbelievable. This kid's future is bright, that's all I can tell you. He set the stage and a couple guys came in behind him and did a good job. Those guys out of the bullpen have been doing extremely well."

The Loons jumped on West Michigan starter Endrys Briceno (4-6), the Detroit Tigers No. 22 prospect, scoring three runs in the second inning and one more in the third.

Briceno pitched three innings and gave up four runs, all earned, on seven hits to take the loss. The Venezuelan native struck out three and walked two.

Seven-hitter James Baldwin hit a triple into the right field corner in the second and scored on a balk to open the scoring. Jeremy Rathjen, who was 2-for-3 in the game, scored on a single from Robbie Garvey. Garvey came home on a Corey Seager single.

Rathjen doubled down the left field line in the third to drive in Aaron Miller to extend the lead to 4-0.

"We played well as a team tonight and when the whole team is doing that, it makes it easier on everybody," Rathjen said. "It's always fun having a sold-out crowd and they did their part tonight. I'm just glad we were able to win for them."

Great Lakes blew the game open in the bottom of the sixth, pushing across four runs to seal the win. Rathjen tripled to left-center field and scored on a single from Jose Capellan. Capellan and two-hitter Leo Rodriguez both came home on a 385-foot Corey Seager home run to right field. Seager was 2-for-3, along with a walk and four runs batted in.

"He threw me two changeups tonight," Seager said. "I got one in the first at-bat and I hit a little dribbler, so I figured he was going to throw me another one. That second one he left up a little more and I guess I was able to put a good swing on it."

Rodriguez and Miller also both had multi-hit games for Great Lakes, with two hits each.

Owen Jones gave the Loons two innings of relief, striking out five and giving up two hits. Craig Stem pitched a perfect ninth inning to finish the game for Great Lakes.

The Loons open a five-game road trip and a two-game homestand on Thursday night at West Michigan in Comstock Park. USC alum Chad Smith (3-4, 2.28 ERA) is expected to start for the Whitecaps. The Loons are expected to have Geoff Brown (6-1, 2.30) on the hill. Game time is 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 100.9-FM and ESPN1009.com.

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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Midwest League Stories from July 3, 2013


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.

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