Loons Lambast Lugnuts with 12-Run Frenzy

In 20 games against the Great Lakes Loons this season, the Lansing Lugnuts pitching staff had done pretty darn well.

The pitching staff with one of the highest ERAs in the Midwest League all season long, Lansing had shut out the Loons three times and was holding Great Lakes to just over four runs per game.

The Loons were due for a night like Thursday at Jackson Field in Lansing, Mich.

Great Lakes scored 11 unanswered runs, scoring double-digit runs against Lansing for the first time this season to defeat the Lugnuts, 12-3.

Lansing (45-66, 20-25 second half) led off their half of the first inning with a homer off the bat of Denzel Clarke, his eighth of the season as a Lugnut and his 15th of the year, giving the home side a 1-0 lead.

The Loons (67-44, 27-18) tied the game in the second inning. The first Great Lakes hit was also a homer, a solo shot from Damon Keith that knotted the score at one apiece.

The Lugnuts, High-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics, nearly took the lead in the second inning. After Sahid Valenzuela reached on an error, Patrick McColl doubled to right field and Valenzuela headed for home. Keith made a strong throw to Eddys Leonard at shortstop, who fired home, where Diego Cartaya applied the tag to keep the game tied.

Lansing would break through in the third, though. Max Muncy doubled with one out before a two-out, two-run shot from Shane McGuire to put the Lugnuts ahead, 3-1. It was McGuire’s first home run at the High-A level and his second of the season.

Great Lakes, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ High-A partner, began the comeback effort in the fifth inning, which began with another Keith homer, his second of the night, third with the Loons and his 15th of the season overall. That brought the Loons within one. After a walk and two outs, Leonard blasted his 12th longball of the season, a two-run shot to put Great Lakes ahead for the first time, 4-3.

That ended an otherwise solid day for Lansing starter Joey Estes (L, 2-6), who tossed five frames, allowing four earned runs on five hits and two walks, striking out four.

Meanwhile, Loons right-hander Carlos Duran (W, 1-2) pitched five complete innings for the first time this season. He gave up five hits and a walk, ceding three earned runs while striking out seven.

Once Duran exited, the Loons bullpen held it down. Cole Duensing spun two scoreless innings with three hits and three strikeouts. Aldry Acosta finished the game with a pair of scoreless innings as well, allowing one walk and one hit with one punchout.

The Loons got some insurance runs anyway, with two four-run frames in the late stages. Aldrich De Jongh blasted a two-run homer in the seventh inning, andJose Ramos had a two-run double in the frame as well. In the eighth, Keith continued an incredible night with a leadoff triple, and a pair of walks loaded the bases. Max Hewitt drove in a pair with a double, then a Leonard sacrifice fly and a Jorbit Vivas single scored a run each to give the Loons their final 12-3 advantage.

Every Loons hitter recorded at least one hit, and five batters had a multi-hit game. Leonard, Vivas and Austin Gauthier each went 2-for-4, and De Jongh went 2-for-3. Keith was the offensive leader, going 3-for-5 with 11 total bases, a new Loons season-high.

Great Lakes takes a 12-9 lead in the season series and leads this six-game set, two games to one, with game four in the series scheduled for 7:05 p.m. Friday at Jackson Field. Kendall Williams (3-3, 4.50 ERA) toes the rubber for Great Lakes, opposing fellow right-hander Jake Walkinshaw (3-1, 3.10 ERA) for Lansing. ESPN 100.9-FM pregame coverage starts at 6:50 p.m. with the Loons On-Deck Circle, driven by Garber Chevrolet Midland.

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.