Loons Land First Series Sweep

Midland, MI - On the hottest night of the season at Dow Diamond the Great Lakes Loons downed the Kane County Cougars behind another stellar pitching performance. Led by Michael Boyle, Loons pitching only yielded three hits en route to a 4-1 victory on Friday night.

Boyle (W, 7-6) dominated in his first appearance of the year out of the bullpen. Dodger's 2nd-round 2016 draft choice Mitchell White started and went an expected two innings before handing off to Boyle who retired the first 13 batters he faced and eventually tossed six innings allowing just two hits and striking out five. 

This is the first series sweep of the 2016 season for Great Lakes who had not swept an opponent since August 14-16, 2015. It is also the first time since May 18-20 that the Loons have won three contests in a row.

Kane County scored the initial run in the 1st inning after Raymel Flores reached on a single with one out, then was scored on an RBI-groundout by Trevor Mitsui.

The Loons did not wait around to respond to the one-run deficit. In the bottom of the 1st inning, Luke Raley was granted first base on a five-pitch walk and two pitches later Eric Meza clocked his third home run of the season on a deep drive to right field giving the Loons a 2-1 lead.

Great Lakes supplemented their lead in the 2nd inning on an RBI-bingle scoring Logan Landon who lead-off the frame with a seeing-eye single through the left side. For Estevez, the base knock extended a season-long on-base streak to 17 games.

Cougars starter Max Duval (L, 0-2), signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks in June out of the Independent Frontier League, face trouble in every inning he pitched in before being chased out of the game in the 5th inning. Duval conceded three earned runs on six hits and four walks.

In the 8th inning, Estevez duplicated what he did in the 2nd and drove in another run on a base hit to left field that allowed Zach McKinstry to score his first run as a Loon.

In to shut the door for Great Lakes in the 9th inning was flamethrower Angel German. German (S, 2) retired the middle of the Cougars lineup in order and secured the Loons a victory.

Great Lakes now sets their sights on the second leg of a six-game homestand as they welcome in the Midwest League Western Division leading Clinton LumberKings. Game one on Saturday night gets underway at 7:05 p.m. ET. Radio coverage on ESPN 100.9-FM dawns at 6:35.

The Great Lakes Loons, hosts of the 2017 Midwest League All-Star Game, have been a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007 and are in their 10th season. For tickets and more information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.