Great Lakes Blashed in 8-4 Loss

MIDLAND, MI - The Great Lakes Loons fell to the Clinton LumberKings 8-4 Thursday night, as Clinton right fielder Jabari Blash delivered two home runs to account for five of his team's runs. Meanwhile, off the field, the Loons saw their month-long social media campaign bring in over 1,300 new #SocialLoons to Facebook and Twitter.

The Loons grabbed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning when both Joe Winker and Jesse Bosnik recorded RBI-singles. Loons starting pitcher Jarret Martin held the LumberKings to one run, a solo homer from Blash, through the first four innings, but ran into trouble when he faced Blash for the third time. With the bases loaded and two outs, Blash lifted Martin's 1-0 pitch over the right-field wall to put his team up 6-3.

"It's a huge turn of events," Bosnik, who had a game-high three hits, said of the way a grand slam affects a game. "If the guy gets out, it's a whole different game. No four-run swing. But offensively you just have to keep battling and hope for a big inning, maybe string a couple of hits together here and there."

The Loons found no such luck, and instead Clinton tacked on one more run in the fifth and added their eighth in the sixth. Martin (1-1) was charged with the loss, finishing with a final line of 11 hits, 7 runs, 0 walks, and 3 strikeouts in 5 innings of work. Reliever Ryan O'Sullivan limited Clinton to one run across three innings, while Matt Shelton struck out the side in the ninth. Clinton starter Ambioris Hidalgo picked up the win, his first.

Off the field, it was Social Media Night (#LoonsSMN) at Dow Diamond. The month-long campaign, a collaboration between the Loons and CMU's PES 190 Class, generated over 1,300 new followers for the Loons social sites (an 11.4% increase) and saw high-traffic interaction throughout the game. Using the Loons Facebook and Twitter pages, fans voted which Loons jerseys the team got to wear, sent requests for music to be played at the game, and much more. Rebecca Koepke was named the winner of the Loons iPad giveaway.

"wow!! Oh my gosh thank you!" she replied after the announcement via Twitter at 7:16 p.m. using her handle @beckykoepke.

The Loons play the rubber match of their three-game series against the Clinton LumberKings on Friday at 6:05 p.m. Starting for the Loons will be RHP Brandon Martinez (1-3, 6.38) against Clinton's RHP Stephen Landazuri (2-0-1, 2.05). In addition to the Loons game, Dow Diamond will be hosting its first Home Room Challenge, where eight schools of the Great Lakes Bay Region will compete for a $1,000 cash prize, culminating with a Home Run Derby after the game featuring a teacher from each of the participating schools. Tickets are also still available for the Loons special Wine Tasting event in Lasorda's Landing during the game.

The Great Lakes Loons are a sixth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and are in the middle of their 5th Anniversary Celebration, which kicked off in August 2011 and will continue throughout the 2012 season. For more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.