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Loons Begin Road Trip with Doubleheader Sweep in Dayton

Great Lakes draws within half a game of Dragons for first in the East
July 15, 2021

DAYTON, OH – After rain postponed Tuesday’s series debut at Day Air Ballpark, the Great Lakes Loons (34-28) took both games from the Dayton Dragons (34-27) on Wednesday night. With both games scheduled for seven innings, the Loons scored three runs in the top of the ninth for a 7-5

DAYTON, OH – After rain postponed Tuesday’s series debut at Day Air Ballpark, the Great Lakes Loons (34-28) took both games from the Dayton Dragons (34-27) on Wednesday night. With both games scheduled for seven innings, the Loons scored three runs in the top of the ninth for a 7-5 victory in game one. Great Lakes never trailed in game two, blanking Dayton 7-0 in the evening night cap to complete the Wednesday sweep.

James Outman homered in the first game to tie the Loons' career franchise record for homeruns with 26, tying Kyle Russell's mark set in 2009. Outman hit 19 Loons longballs in 2019 in a Loons uniform, and hit his seventh Wednesday night to tie Russell's record.

In game one, Jack Little (W, 3-1) struck out three batters in the final two innings to help the Loons overcome an early 4-0 Dragons deficit. Dayton’s Pedro Garcia (L, 6-2) surrendered the three runs on two hits in the top of the ninth in game one, walking two. With Wednesday’s sweep, the Loons have won the last four matchups against Dayton, spanning back to the end of the recent series in mid-June.

After the Dragons scored four runs in the bottom of the second inning, the Loons began a comeback effort that wouldn’t give them the lead until the top of the ninth inning. Outman powered Great Lakes with a 3-for-3 outing at the top of the order and started the Loons scoring with his seventh homerun of the season. Outman reached base successfully in all five of his trips to the plate, falling a triple shy of the cycle and walking twice. Zac Ching smacked his fifth homerun of the season in the top of the fourth to change the score to a one-run Dragons advantage.

In the top of the sixth, Outman tied game one with a two-out, run-scoring double to plate Joe Vranesh from first. Loons pitchers held the Dragons scoreless after the bottom of the second, only allowing five hits across the next seven innings of work.

Wednesday’s first game moved scoreless through the later innings, and a 4-4 tie was broken in the top of the ninth, highlighted by a two-run double from Andy Pages. Little’s second inning began in the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back hits, scoring the inherited runner and bringing the winning run to the plate. Little rallied for three consecutive outs, two of which were strikeouts to earn the win in game one.

Following Wednesday’s intermission, the Loons began game two loudly with a leadoff triple from Outman, his league-best seventh of the season. Dayton’s right-handed starter Lyon Richardson (L, 2-4) began his night allowing a run to score on three hits in the first inning, putting the first four Loons faced aboard. Great Lakes left the bases loaded after Richardson struck out the side, only surrendering a run in the first. The Loons plated three more runs in the top of the third in a five-hit inning, then scored three more unanswered runs in the top of the sixth. Great Lakes outhit Dayton 13 hits to three, committing no errors in game two.

After the longest outing of the season for Loons’ starter Logan Boyer in Wednesday’s second game, Alec Gamboa (W, 2-3) only allowed two hits in five scoreless innings, walking two batters and striking out five.

Great Lakes’ middle batters of Yurchak, Pages and Ryan Ward finished game two 9-for-10, scoring six times and bringing in four runs. Ward knocked his ninth double of the season to score two in the top of the sixth, and would come in to score on a Brandon Lewis groundout. As an offensive unit, the Loons ended game two 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position and held Dayton 0-for-3 in the same department.

The Loons and Dragons continue a six-game series with game three Thursday night from Day Air Ballpark, first pitch scheduled for 7:05 P.M. EDT. Pregame coverage kicks off with the Loons On-Deck Circle, Built by Three Rivers, at 6:35 P.M. on ESPN 100.9 FM. Expected to start game three for Great Lakes is right-hander Jose Martinez in his 13th appearance of the season, bringing a 3.61 ERA with him in 47 1/3 innings this season. Eduardo Salazar leads Dayton in innings logged with 59 1/3 innings, and will make his 13th start of the season Thursday night.

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.