MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Lose in Extras, 8-5

Published on July 1, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, MI - The Great Lakes Loons (4-6) took the West Michigan Whitecaps to extra innings Sunday night, before losing the series opener 8-5 at Dow Diamond before 3,129 Loons fans.

The Loons established a 4-1 lead early on a three-run blast from Loons outfielder Angelo Songco, but the Whitecaps collected three home runs of their own and scored an additional run on a double to tie the game at 5-5 in the 7th, where the score held until the 10th.

Loons reliever Matt Shelton induced two groundouts in the bonus inning before four consecutive singles gave the Whitecaps a three-run lead. Center fielder James Baldwin also had an error in the frame that moved the W'caps final two runs into scoring position. Shelton was charged with the loss, his third.

"We had a great start," Loons manager John Shoemaker said after the game. "West Michigan and us have played a lot of close games. They have a club that likes to battle and scrap and are a pretty good fastball hitting team and they did some damage tonight."

The Whitecaps held the Loons to just five hits on the night, and tallied 13 off Great Lakes pitchers. Songco's home run was the offensive highlight for Great Lakes, and landed underneath the scoreboard in right field, estimated at 440 feet. The Loons added another run on a sac-fly in the third, and their last in the fifth when Whitecaps pitcher Jeff Farrell overthrew second base on an appeal, allowing Delvis Morales to score from third.

Starting pitcher Gustavo Gomez delivered a season-high seven strikeouts through five innings of work, which makes 13 total in his last two starts. The Panama-native surrendered two home runs to the Whitecaps for three runs before he was relieved by Juan Rodriguez, who allowed two runs on two hits through two innings. He was charged with a blown save. Juan Noriega stepped in during the eighth to pitch two scoreless innings.

The Great Lakes Loons play game two of their three-game series the Single-A affiliates of the Detroit Tigers, the West Michigan Whitecaps (6-4), on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Starting the mound for the Loons will be RHP Raydel Sanchez (1-3, 3.76) against the Whitecaps RHP Wilsen Palacios (9-4, 3.36). The game will be the first of two Bark in the Park Nights this summer, where fans can bring their dogs out to enjoy Loons baseball at Dow Diamond. Gates open at 6:00 p.m.

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.

Check out the Great Lakes Loons Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from July 1, 2012


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