Whitecaps Weep as Loons Sweep
August 27, 2018 - Midwest League (MWL1)
West Michigan Whitecaps News Release
COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The Great Lakes Loons rallied for five runs in the ninth en route to a 6-2 victory and a four-game sweep over the West Michigan Whitecaps in front of 4,991 fans Monday night at Fifth Third Ballpark.
The Whitecaps managed to take a 2-1 into the ninth, but the Loons used the late-inning heroics to record only the second four-game series sweep over West Michigan in Great Lakes franchise history.
A Joey Morgan sacrifice bunt brought Rey Rivera home in the fourth inning off Loons starter Jose Chacin and provided the Whitecaps a 1-0 lead and first advantage of their four-game series. An RBI-triple by Wenceel Perez in the fifth inning pushed the advantage to 2-0. Jesus Rodriguez saved one of his best starts of 2018 in this game for West Michigan. After escaping a bases-loaded jam in the second inning, Rodriguez retired ten of the next eleven batters and allowed only three hits and a run on a sacrifice fly over his last five innings. After a flawless eighth inning of relief, "Caps righty Will Vest put runners on second and third, needing one more out to salvage the potential win. The Loons had other notions, using three run-scoring singles and a "Caps fielding error to break the game wide open and finish the comeback. The Whitecaps were 51-1 in 2018 when leading after eight innings, but Great Lakes spoiled the night and won their seventh straight contest.
Rodriguez went seven innings, allowing only one run on seven hits while striking out five and not issuing a walk. Vest (3-4) suffered his second blown save on the year and took the loss, going two innings allowing three earned runs, five hits and tallying four strikeouts. Chacin scattered seven hits in seven innings and struck out four for Great Lakes. Devin Hemmerich (5-5) came up with the win as the Loons advance to 34-30 in the second half and 58-74 overall, while the Whitecaps fall to 29-34 in the second half and 65-68 on the 2018 campaign. The Whitecaps were outhit on the night twelve to seven and went 1-for-32 with runners in scoring position in the series.
KIRBY WINS PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Whitecaps pitcher Chance Kirby took home Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honors after twirling seven innings of shutout baseball as part of a 1-0 loss to Great Lakes on Saturday. Kirby, a 25th round pick of the Detroit Tigers out of the University of Texas at San Antonio, allowed three hits without walking a batter and tallying eight strikeouts in the contest.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps make their final road trip of the regular season for a three-game series against the Dayton Dragons beginning Wednesday at 7:00 pm. Whitecaps pitcher Brad Bass starts for West Michigan against the Dragons Austin Orewiler. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm. Tickets are available for any Whitecaps 2018 home contest by calling the Whitecaps front office at 616-784-4131 or by visiting www.whitecapsbaseball.com.
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