Loons Strikeout 18 Dragons, Take 11-Inning 2-1 Victory

Dayton, Ohio. – The Great Lakes Loons (53-24) won their fifth straight game, third against the Dayton Dragons (39-38) after a powerful pitching performance in a 2-1 win on an 80-degree cloudy Thursday night at Day Air Ballpark.

Both teams in 22 half-innings managed just five hits, striking out a combined 29 times.

Yeiner Fernandez provided the lone Loons hit that was not a bunt. With a placed runner in scoring position in the eleventh, the 20-year-old sliced one just over the glove of shortstop Edwin Arroyo and into shallow center field. Max Hewitt scored to make it 2-1.

Carlos De Los Santos took the final three outs. The right-hander earned his first save of the season, striking out two and inducing a groundout to second to close the game. Dayton went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Maddux Bruns was battle tested and attained three season highs; the most strikeouts, innings, and pitches in his start. The left-hander gave up only one hit, a Jay Allen bloop single that landed on the edge of the infield dirt behind first base. That put two in scoring position in the third, but Bruns forced a flyout to centerfield.

The 21-year-old struck out nine, his last against Edwin Arroyo the No. 3 Reds Prospect. The inning-ender in the fifth, saw a curveball cut on and missed, Bruns lone curve of the night.

Thomas Farr for Dayton walked four Loons, striking out six. His lone run over five innings was permitted due to two walks in the first inning. Seven pitches to Taylor Young and a Dalton Rushing eight-pitch bases on balls. Young stole third and sprinted home after a 6-4-3 double play.

Great Lakes bullpen held Dayton to two hits from the sixth inning on. Reinaldo De Paula worked an 11-pitch 1-2-3 sixth. Mitchell Tyranski gave up both hits, and the only Dragons run. An RBI single by Jack Rogers after a double from Tyler Callihan in the seventh.

Juan Morillo struck out one facing the minimum in the eighth. Michael Hobbs was pumped after navigating around a runner at third in the tenth. Hobbs through two innings, struck out four, punching out Edwin Arroyo on three pitches to end the tenth.

Great Lakes' first hit was from Taylor Young, a bunt single in the sixth and only hit mustered against Dayton reliever Myles Gayman through three innings. Fernandez’s game-winning single came off Jayvien Sandridge, unearned, with the placed runner scoring.

The Loons have taken the first three games of the series and go for a series win tomorrow Friday, July 7th. The first pitch from Day Air Ballpark is set for 7:05 p.m.

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.