Loons Drop Series Finale in Lansing

LANSING, Mich. – In a three-game winning streak against the Lansing Lugnuts, the Great Lakes Loons scored 12 runs in each game.

On Sunday at Jackson Field, they needed to score 12, but only mustered seven.

The Lugnuts salvage a series finale victory, 11-7, but the Loons win the set four games to two.

Lansing (46-68, 21-27 second half) plated two unearned runs in the bottom of the first inning on one hit, one error, a walk and a hit batsman, to take a 2-0 lead into the second.

The Loons (29-19, 69-44) wouldn’t trail for long. Five straight men reached with two outs in the second inning, and four runs scored on four hits in the frame, pushing the Loons in front, 4-2. A two-run single from Jorbit Vivas was the defining play in the inning.

Great Lakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ High-A partner, extended their lead to 5-2 in the third inning, thanks to back-to-back doubles from Austin Gauthier and Luis Yanel Diaz.

The Lugnuts, High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, got a two-out run in the third inning. Lazaro Armenteros singled with two down, then stole second base before Jared McDonald scored him on a single. Lansing would steal six bases in the contest, tying a season high for a Loons opponent.

After that, momentum swung Lansing’s way somewhat. Jack Owen pitched two scoreless frames to finish out his performance, followed by a scoreless inning each from Osvaldo Berrios (W, 4-8) and Mac Lardner.

The big inning came in the bottom of the sixth. Lansing scored five runs against Ben Casparius (L, 1-3) in the inning on six hits, a walk and a hit batsman. Joshwan Wright drove in a pair of runs in the frame and the Lugnuts jumped out to an 8-5 lead.

It would take until the eighth for the Loons to respond. Diaz, Aldrich De Jongh and Kekai Rios hit three straight singles, but just one run scored as the next three batters went down in order. Great Lakes still trailed, 8-6.

Three more runs scored for Lansing in the bottom of the eighth to give the Lugnuts their biggest lead of the night, 11-6. McDonald drove in two of the runs in the frame.

Great Lakes would make some noise in the ninth inning, beginning with a home run from Imanol Vargas, his 17th of the season. A pair of singles would follow, but Brock Whittlesey (SV, 3) came in with two outs and needed just three pitches to record the final out of the game to secure the 11-7 Lansing victory.

Offensively, the Loons mustered more than a dozen hits for the fourth game in a row, and equaled Lansing’s hit total with 14, but still lost by four runs. Five players had multi-hit games for Great Lakes: Vargas, Gauthier and Diaz each had two hits, while De Jongh and Rios both collected a trio of knocks.

The Loons take the series four games to two and win the season series against Lansing, 14-10. Great Lakes returns home to Dow Diamond in Midland, Mich., for a fortnight-long homestand, the final homestand of the regular season. The first six-game series kicks off Tuesday at 7:05 as the Loons welcome the Fort Wayne TinCaps (45-68, 18-29) to town. It’s a jam-packed homestand with the latest installment in the celebrity series, plus fireworks, a 5K run and more. For a complete promotional schedule and to purchase tickets, visit Loons.com.

The Great Lakes Loons have been a 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.