MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Sunday Shutout Sweep

Published on July 15, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


BURLINGTON, Iowa - A week littered with dominant pitching performances continued for the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday afternoon as they took both games of a twin bill via shutout against the Burlington Bees at Community Field.

Gerardo Carrillo, Luis Pasen, and Jasiel Alvino combined to blank Burlington in a 1-0 game one win and Jeronimo Castro, Justin Hagenman, and Stephen Kolek kept the Bees offense in check in a 5-0 game two victory.

The Loons (7-17, 31-61) and Bees (5-18, 35-57) had their series opener on Saturday night postposed after flood-inducing rain poured through the southeast corner of Iowa. Great Lakes has already won the series and has also guaranteed themselves a winning road trip against the Western Division with four wins through their first five games.

In game one, 19-year-old Mexican-born right-hander, Carrillo, made his Single-A debut and spun 4 2/3 innings of scoreless baseball before Pasen (W, 1-0) and Alvino (S, 2) delivered the final 2 1/3 innings out of the bullpen. The game was tied at zero until Deacon Liput clobbered his first professional home run in the 6th inning off righty Michael Santos (L, 1-1). Liput was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 10th round out of Florida in June.

A trio of relative newcomers got the job done on the mound in game two. Castro tossed 3 innings in his second start of the year before Hagenman (W, 1-0) made his Loons debut with 1 2/3 innings and Kolek (S, 1), in his second appearance, delivered the final 2 1/3. The Loons' offense was a bit more potent in the nightcap with standout performances from Brayan Morales, Devin Mann, Romer Cuadrado, and Luke Heyer.

Morales tied a franchise record set in 2013 by James Baldwin for stolen bases in a game with four. It brings Morales' season total to a Midwest League-leading 45, which is 12 more than any other player in the league. Mann went 2-for-3 with a double, RBI, run, and walk. Cuadrado, who hit nine home runs in Rookie-Advanced Ogden last year, hit his first dinger since June 2 (33 games). Finally, Heyer joined Mann as the only Loons with multi-hit performances in either game of the Ernie Banks Special.

Burlington's starter Denny Brady was strapped with the loss in the second game. He fell to 0-3 on the season.

The two shutouts on Sunday give the Loons three shutouts in a five-game stretch. Great Lakes has also only allowed two earned runs in that span. This marks only the second time in the franchise's 12-year history that they have given up as few as two earned runs in a five-game stretch. The only other time it was accomplished was from August 24-28, 2016.

The Loons have their second chance of the week to earn their first series sweep of 2018 in the road trip finale on Monday. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CDT with radio pregame coverage beginning at 6 on ESPN 100.9-FM, ESPN1009.com, and the TuneIn app.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team's home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.

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Midwest League Stories from July 15, 2018


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