MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

LumberKings Gain Upper Hand

July 23, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


Midland, Mich. - After sweeping the first series of the homestand against the Kane County Cougars, confidence in the Great Lakes Loons clubhouse was high heading into tonight's opener with the Clinton LumberKings. However, the visitors had other ideas as prevailed 5-1 on Saturday night at Dow Diamond.

Logan Taylor smoked a home run 431 feet out to left field and on to Buttles Street beyond the stadium wall off Loons starter Caleb Ferguson to give Clinton the lead for good in the 3rd inning. Luis Liberato and Rayder Ascanio contributed multi-hit nights for the LumberKings against Great Lakes pitching to maintain the offensive pressure.

Ferguson (L, 0-2) went five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out seven batters on 70 pitchers (52 strikes).

The first batter of the game, Liberato singled to reach and scored three batters later when 2014 Seattle Mariners 1st round pick Alex Jackson singled up the middle to give the LumberKings a 1-0 lead.

The Loons evened matters in the bottom of the 2nd inning when Brendon Davis singled a scored against starter Pablo Lopez, who was on a strict pitch count and did not finish the frame. Kevin Gadea (W, 1-0) relieved the right-hander and threw 4 1/3 innings of shutout baseball to go along with six strikeouts.

After Clinton took the lead for good, they added insurance runs in the 5th and 7th innings when Liberato scored and Gus Craig smacked a solo shot.

Brian Bass threw three innings of relief for the Loons and Alex Hermeling struck out the side in the 9th for his 26th appearance of the season.

Clinton pitching closed out their great night on the mound when Joe Pistorese and Lukas Schiraldi combined for three shutout innings only allowing one hit and three walks.

Game two of the series is set for Sunday afternoon in Midland with first pitch set for 2:05 p.m. Left-hander Wes Helsabeck (3-0, 2.25 ERA) will take the mound for the Loons while Pedro Vasquez (1-0, 1.80) will be on the opposite side for the LumberKings. Tune in to ESPN 100.9-FM for coverage beginning at 1:35 p.m. with Chris Vosters and Brad Tunney.

The Great Lakes Loons, hosts of the 2017 Midwest League All-Star Game, have been a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007 and are in their 10th season. For tickets and more information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.

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Midwest League Stories from July 23, 2016


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