Loons Strikeout 10 Lugnuts, Snap Three Game Skid

Lansing, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (66-44) (21-24) kept the Lansing Lugnuts (50-60) (19-26) to one hit in the final five innings, a 5-3 win that snapped a three-game losing streak on a 71-degree partly cloudy Thursday night at Jackson® Field™.

Benony Robles locked down the Lugnuts in the ninth, facing the minimum adding two strikeouts. Robles now has 11 saves in 13 opportunities, second in the Midwest League behind Cedar Rapids’ Miguel Rodriguez with 14.

Great Lakes batters walked six times through the first three innings. In the second, Damon Keith walked on six pitches, followed by a Kenneth Betancourt five-pitch walk. Chris Alleyne’s bunt single, set up a Jake Vogel sacrifice fly to open the scoring.

A Loons four-walk three-run third inning came next. Alex Freeland singled, to lead off the inning. Freeland had a three-hit game and has six through the first three games in the series. Yeiner Fernandez and Griffin Lockwood-Powell walked to load the bases. Back-to-back fielder’s choice putouts brought two across. The first for Nick Biddison, the other for Damon Keith.

A Kenneth Betancourt single and Chris Alleyne walk reloaded the bases. Jake Vogel’s six-pitch walk pushed another run home to make it 4-0. In the fourth inning, Great Lakes had three hits. The third was a Nick Biddison RBI single, increasing the lead to 5-0.

Peter Heubeck, in his third start in the Midwest League, completed four innings for the first time. The Dodgers No. 26 prospect’s first three innings saw three strikeouts and three left aboard. In the fourth, Lansing tacked on two runs. Colby Thomas jacked a solo homer 440 feet to deep left field. T.J. Schofield Sam doubled, moved to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Danny Bautista Jr. sacrifice fly.

The Loons utilized five arms from the bullpen for the final innings. Christian Suarez struck out the side in the fifth, earning his fifth win of 2023. Reinaldo De Paula walked Daniel Susac, and two wild pitches moved him to third. Two groundouts finished the frame, and one plated the third and final Lugnuts run.

Carlos De Los Santos needed just 13 pitches for a scoreless seventh inning. Ronan Kopp maneuvered around two walks, forcing a 6-4-3 double play and an inning-ending strikeout in the bottom of the eighth.

Great Lakes looks to even the series against Lansing. Game four is tomorrow Friday, August 18th. The first pitch is 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.