MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Loons Pick on Krol in 6-4 Win

Published on July 25, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


MIDLAND, MI - The Great Lakes Loons continued their winning ways Saturday night with a 6-4 victory over the Kane County Captains, despite facing one of the Midwest League's top pitchers.

Left-handed pitcher Ian Krol entered the game as the Midwest League's No. 2 pitcher in ERA with a mark of 2.26 and only two home runs allowed this season in 95.2 innings. The southpaw was up against a thriving Loons team, 22-5 for the second-half and leading the league with 95 home runs. Something had to give.

Krol started well by pitching the first three Loons into groundouts in inning one to retire the side, but that would be the Illinois-native's only clean inning.

In the second, hot-hitting Loons outfielder Brian Cavazos-Galvez was the first to touch Krol, and did so with a solo homer to lead off the inning. Cavazos-Galvez's homer extended his Loons franchise record to 22 consecutive games with a hit.

"Collectively, we all knew that [Krol] was going to beat around in the zone," Cavazos-Galvez said after the game. "We know that he can lock in on parts of the zone and he has a great ERA, but as a team you have to have a good plan against someone like that to give us a chance [to win]."

The aggressive strategy at the plate, a long-time component of Busty-ball, has paid off for the team this season and continued to manufacture runs Saturday as the next three batters in the inning found hits. J.T. Wise and Rafael Ynoa each reached base on a hit to the outfield. First baseman Jaime Ortiz scored Wise on a single and Gorman Erickson hit a sac-fly to bring in Ynoa, giving the Loons the 3-0 lead.

The Loons put up three more runs on Krol in the third inning on an RBI-single from Angelo Songco and a two-run homer from Wise. Krol left the game after three, finishing with a season-high six earned runs on seven hits to take the loss and drop his ERA to 2.74. In three innings, the Loons managed to double Krol's home runs allowed total, from two to four.

Loons starting pitcher Elisaul Pimentel joined teammate Allen Webster at the top of the Midwest League in wins, qualifying for his ninth of the season. Pimentel allowed four runs on six hits over five innings, fanning three and walking three. Ryan Christenson made his Loons debut and limited the Cougars to two hits in three scoreless innings of Single-A baseball. Steve Ames struck out the side in the ninth inning for his eighth save since joining the team on 6/30.

The Loons will play game two of their three-game series against the Kane County Cougars Sunday at 3:05 p.m. RHP Josh Wall (7-4, 3.53) will start for the Loons, while RHP Murphy Smith (5-0, 4.93) gets the nod for Kane County. Sunday is Super Splash Day at Dow Diamond with Kids Run the Bases following the game. Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Marty Raybon will perform a live set after the game. A Zumba exercise will be held postgame as well, presented by the Midland Community Center.

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.

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Midwest League Stories from July 25, 2010


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