Lugnuts Outpower Loons, Take Season Series

Lansing, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (67-45) (22-25) scored five runs in the first four innings but were held off the board in the final five, with the Lansing Lugnuts (51-61) (20-27) taking it 7-5 on a 77-degree partly cloudy Saturday night at Jackson® Field™.

With the win, the Lugnuts have an 11-9 record this season against the Loons. Lansing is the only team with a winning record against Great Lakes this season.

11 runs were scored through the first four innings. The Loons started the game up 3-0, with two stolen bases helping the cause in the first inning.

Taylor Young led off the game with a single and was plated by an Alex Freeland double. Freeland stole third base, his 27th of the year, and was brought home by a Kenneth Betancourt single. Betancourt took second and trotted home after an opposite-field single from Damon Keith. Freeland and Betancourt both have nine hits in the series.

Lansing runs were supported by walks. Jerming Rosario’s first walk was to Brennan Milone in the second inning, followed up by a Euribiel Angeles RBI single after Milone advanced to scoring position on a wild pitch. The bottom of the third inning saw three runs from one swing. Junior Perez and Daniel Susac walked, and Jacob Wilson singled to create bases loaded with no outs.

Rosario responded with a strikeout and a sacrifice fly to get two outs. After starting behind 2-0, Brennan Milone mashed a ball 430 feet over the left-center field fence, to make it 5-4 and a four-run frame.

The fourth and fifth Loons runs came from the longball. Yeiner Fernandez led off the third, with a solo home run 382 feet to left field to make it 4-1. Chris Alleyne, in the fourth, had the equalizer. It was Alleyne's second home run of the week. Alleyne aired it 406 feet, bringing the score to 5-5. Both Rosario and Lugnuts starter Yehizon Sanchez permitted five runs in three innings.

Junior Perez, in the home half of the fourth, powered out a go-ahead solo home run. Danny Bautista Jr. added an RBI single in the fifth. Both runs came off Mitchell Tyranski. The Lansing bullpen and defense took it from there.

Kumar Nambiar notched three scoreless innings. The sixth inning was Great Lakes' best chance. Chris Alleyne doubled to deep center but was thrown out by Junior Perez trying to extend it to a triple. Two strikeouts from nine and one in the order came next.

Mac Lardner tossed a scoreless seventh, while Stevie Emanuels picked up the final out in the eighth with a strikeout, stranding two. Yeiner Fernandez singled, and Griffin Lockwood-Powell walked in the ninth, but Emanuels induced a game-ending double play.

The Loons can achieve a series split in Michigan’s capital city with the series finale tomorrow Sunday, August 20th. The first pitch is at 1:05 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.