Martinus’ Late Heroics & Loons Bullpen Grab 6-5 Win to Finish April 

MIDLAND, Mich. – A Mairo Martinus RBI single in the eighth and a bullpen that went 5.1 scoreless pushed the Great Lakes Loons (12-11) past the Quad Cities River Bandits (15-7) a 6-5 win on a 58-degree partly cloudy Wednesday night at Dow Diamond.

- Great Lakes is now 4-3 in one-run games, winning their second in the last three contests.

- In the eighth, with the game tied, Kendall George sliced a payoff pitch with two outs up the left field line. It made the wall, and George reached third, his second triple of the season. Mairo Martinus followed with his go-ahead single. Quad Cities reliever A.J. Causey permitted his first run of the year, the right-hander entered with 10.2 innings, scoreless.

- The Loons scored in the first inning, their 10th time through the first 23 games. Josue De Paula walked and was followed by Logan Wagner. Wagner smashed a ball to Buttles Street, 407 feet and 108 mph off the bat to left field. Great Lakes took a 2-0 lead.

- Wagner led off the third inning with a single, then a hit-by-pitch put two on. Joe Vetrano up next worked a nine-pitch battle and roped a two-run triple to right field. Martinus would bring Vetrano home with his first RBI single of the night, extending the lead to 5-1.

- Great Lakes starter Patrick Copen worked around four walks with four strikeouts through his first three innings. The River Bandits added two in the top of the fourth, a two-out two-run single from Trevor Werner, to pull Quad Cities within two.

- The River Bandits got two runs off two Loons errors in the seventh. A double play forced by Livan Reinoso ended the frame. Reinoso in the eighth and Carson Hobbs in the ninth retired the Quad Cities batters in order.

Rounding Things Out

Great Lakes finished April with a 12-11 record. The Loons have had a winning record in April seven times. Three of the seven, 2023, 2010, and 2009, Great Lakes made the playoffs.

Up Next

May begins tomorrow, Thursday, May 1st, with the River Bandits and Loons starting at 6:05 pm. Tomorrow is a Thirsty Thursday with half-off beer presented by JP O’Sullivan.

The Great Lakes Loons have been 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 Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.