TinCaps Two Homers, Take Down Loons

Midland, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (68-47) (23-27) left seven on base in a 6-3 defeat to the Fort Wayne TinCaps (60-56) (28-22) on a 74-degree cloudy Wednesday night at Dow Diamond.

The Loons had the chance for a fifth straight game with a first-inning run. Taylor Young walked on six pitches and forced a rundown an errant throw out of play. Young was awarded third but went to the base without touching second base. Fort Wayne’s Henry Baez from the mound threw it to second base, and Young was ruled out. Great Lakes stranded two to end the inning.

Adolfo Ramirez retired the first six he faced in his first start since April 29th. The right-hander walked Jarryd Dale to begin the third inning, one ball was automatic due to Ramirez licking his fingers and then touching the ball. After a single to put runners on the corners, Kervin Pichardo grounded into an RBI fielder’s choice. It was a 2-1 pitch following another automatic ball.

Fort Wayne tacked on two in the fourth after a two-run home run from Carlos Luis. Lucas Dunn walked to start the inning on six pitches. Ramirez fell an out short of four innings, Carlos De Los Santos finished the inning and struck out two in a scoreless fifth.

Great Lakes pulled within a run at the halfway point. In the bottom of the fourth Chris Alleyne aired one out 351 feet over the right field fence. “Bubba” has three home runs in his last six games and seven in 91 games played.

Yunior Garcia started the fifth with a walk in his first game back with the Loons since May 10th. Jake Vogel followed with a double, placing two in scoring position. A Nick Biddisongroundout plated one, with a Yeiner Fernandez nine-pitch two-out walk pushing Yoan Gonzalez out of the game. A strikeout curtailed the chance, attained by Keegan Collett. The TinCaps kept their 3-2 lead.

Griffin Doesrching delivered two insurance runs in the sixth inning, a 380-foot-deep blast to left-center field. It was the first hit for the 25-year-old in his second Midwest League game.

In the final four innings, the Loons had two hits and scored one run. Chris Alleyne singled to center field in the eighth and sprinted to third after an error in center field and scored on a wild pitch. Fort Wayne’s Cole Paplham recorded the final three outs striking out the last two.

The series is tied at one with game three tomorrow Thursday, August 24th, first pitch at 7:05 p.m. Every Thursday home game is a Thirsty Thursday presented by John P. O'Sullivan Distributing as well as Alzheimer’s Awareness night brought to you by the Alzheimer's Association -- Greater Michigan Chapter.

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.