Loons Rudely Welcomed to Fort Wayne

[Empty Body]

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Fort Wayne tied a franchise record with 18 runs scored in a 13-run drubbing of the Great Lakes Loons on Friday night at Parkview Field.
The loss ends a three-game win streak for the Loons (24-30; 60-63), who fell for the sixth straight time to the TinCaps (35-19; 61-63). Fort Wayne had not scored 18 runs in a game since September 5, 1998 when the Wizards, as they were known at the time, were a Twins affiliate.
The Loons held leads of 3-0 in the first inning and 5-4 in the third. Dodgers third-round pick Connor Wong belted his first professional home run in the first inning as the Loons chased Fort Wayne left-handed starter Adrian Morejon from the game after two innings and 69 pitches. 
Obtaining outs were a problem for the Loons from the first inning onward. Fort Wayne scored four runs in the second inning against righty starter Riley Ottesen, who walked a batter and hit another in the inning. Centerfielder Jeren Kendall misjudged a fly ball off the bat of Fernando Tatis, Jr., which led to an RBI ground-rule double, and catcher Connor Wong committed a throwing error in the inning to score Tatis later in the frame.
The game was tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth when righty reliever Aneurys Zabala made his Loons debut. Zabala allowed three walks, hit a batter, and threw two wild pitches in 2/3 of an inning. Wong picked up his second error of the ballgame on an interference call that scored a run, and second baseman Jared Walker could not quite hang on to a line drive by Nate Easley that scored a pair of TinCaps. When the fifth ended, Fort Wayne led 11-5 despite two hits in the inning. 
Fort Wayne scored two more runs in the sixth inning and five in the seventh, another rocky inning defensively for the Loons that saw three walks and a wild pitch by Dan Jagiello, an error on third baseman Brock Carpenter and a three-run home run hit by Hudson Potts to make the score 18-5. 
Following their most lopsided defeat of the season, the Loons return to Parkview Field on Saturday night for game two of their four-game series against Fort Wayne. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. EDT and pregame coverage on ESPN 100.9-FM begins at 6:35.
The Great Lakes Loons are the 2016 Midwest League Champions and have been a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since 2007. Dow Diamond, home of the Loons, also houses ESPN 100.9-FM and the Michigan Baseball Foundation. For tickets and more information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.