Loons Lambaste Captains 10-1

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (37-16) from start to finish throttled the Lake County Captains (25-28) 10-1 on a 67-degree partly cloudy Wednesday night at Dow Diamond. Damon Keith had four runs batted in, his season-high.

With a Great Lakes Loons win and a West Michigan Whitecaps loss tonight the Loons “magic number” is now five. 13 games remain in the first-half schedule, with the Loons atop the division by nine games over the Whitecaps.

Great Lakes jumped on the board for three in the bottom of the second. A five-pitch walk by Griffin Lockwood-Powell began the inning. Damon Keith then stepped up and ripped a ball to centerfield for a RBI double. Keith moved to third on a wild pitch and was plated on a sacrifice fly from Frank Rodriguez.

Luis Diaz next-up tripled to right field, scoring Chris Alleyne who reached on a base on balls. Three of the 12 RBI for Diaz in 2023 have come off of triples.

Justin Wrobleski, with the run-support completed five innings for the fourth time in his 11th start. The left-hander had just four batters reach base. The Dodgers No. 30 prospect struck out three Captains.

Lake County’s Aaron Davenport worked around two walks spinning a scoreless third and fourth. The Captains bullpen faltered with the Loons tacking on seven runs in their final three innings of offense.

Frank Rodriguez doubled home Damon Keith in the bottom of the sixth. In the seventh, Great Lakes struck for four runs on four hits. Keith and Chris Alleyne added a RBI single. A Rodriguez double down the right-field line assisted Alleyne across the plate.

Yeiner Fernandez and Chris Newell both walked with one-out in the eighth, Damon Keith cleared the bases with a two-run double, capping the Captains chances and a four-RBI day.

Four Loons relievers pitched the final four innings. Michael Hobbs, adjusted after a leadoff single in the sixth, gaining two strikeouts with a Alex Freeland highlight play ending the inning. Christian Suarez struck out the side in the seventh and Jack Dreyer needed just eight pitches to close the eighth.

Aldry Acosta entered in the ninth. After allowing the first two batters to reach and a Christian Cairo RBI double, the right-hander struck out the next two to end the day. Great Lakes pitching punched out 11 Captains.

Game three of the series is tomorrow Thursday, June 8th, 2023. It is Margaritaville Night presented by Garpiel Group. A Parrothead band plays from 6:00 - 6:30 in The Cove and the Loons will don limited-edition Margaritaville jerseys. First pitch is at 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.