MWL1 Great Lakes Loons

Whitecaps Widen Playoff Lead

Published on August 29, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Great Lakes Loons News Release


COMSTOCK PARK, MI - The West Michigan Whitecaps are two games closer to clinching a playoff berth with a 10-5 win Saturday night over the Great Lakes Loons before a packed crowd of 9,221. The win, combined with Lansing's loss at home to Dayton, gives West Michigan a four-game lead over the Lugnuts for the Midwest League East's final playoff berth with nine games remaining, including three head-to-head matchups. The Loons have already clinched a playoff berth with their strong first half showing.

The Whitecaps never trailed in the game and took advantage of three singles, two walks an error and a disputed umpire's call to score five runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead.

Chris Jacobs pulled the Loons closer with a two-run home run in the bottom half of the fourth, his seventh of the year. The hit extended Jacobs' hitting streak to eight games.

Then in the seventh, West Michigan starter Luis Angel Sanz (4-6) loaded the bases with two outs on a hit batsman and two walks. Reliever Jordan Pratt surrendered a two-run single to Nick Buss down the right field line. Then with runners at the corners, he uncorked a wild pitch sending Rafael Ynoa to the plate to pull Great Lakes to within one, 7-6. As the throw to the plate from catcher Rob Brantley sailed past Pratt, Buss took off for third base and was thrown out for the final out of the inning. The Loons never got closer.

West Michigan extended its lead in the bottom of the seventh in a you-had-to-see-it-to-believe-it play. After a hit batsman and a walk from reliever Nick Gaudi, runner Wade Gaynor stole second base as the pitch went past catcher Gorman Erickson. That wild pitch, Gaudi's third of the inning, scored Corey Jones. Erickson retrieved the ball behind the plate, fired to third wildly and Gaynor proceeded to score.

Loons starter Allen Webster (11-9) was charged with four earned runs in six innings for his ninth loss. Sanz survived for the win despite five earned runs in 6 2/3.

Loons manager Juan Bustabad was ejected from the game in the third inning arguing with plate umpire Matt Springer for refusing to confer with his partner on a non-hit batsman call. The Loons are now 14-13 in August following a 24-5 July.

The Loons (84-46 overall, 41-20 second half) and Whitecaps (58-72, 32-29) continue their four-game series with a Sunday matinee beginning at 1pm. Left-hander Greg Wilborn (4-1, 2.20 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Loons against righty Patrick Cooper (1-1, 6.35). The game will be broadcast on ESPN 100.9-FM and online at Loons.com.

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 August 29, 2010


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