Out of First with Thursday Defeat, 8-2

MIDLAND, MI – The Great Lakes Loons (41-34) fell out of first place in the East Division with an 8-2 loss to the West Michigan Whitecaps (35-39) at Dow Diamond Thursday night. Despite drawing seven walks, the Loons offense struggled with runners in scoring position, finishing 1-for-9 and leaving ten batters on-base.

Whitecaps starter Garrett Hill (W, 2-0) allowed no earned runs in five innings, walking four batters and striking out eight. Zac Houston and Jared Tobey both tallied one inning, combining for two strikeouts. Angel Reyes completed the final two innings, striking out three batters in two scoreless innings.

Loons starter Cole Percival made his first professional start Thursday night, striking out three batters in three innings. The only damage West Michigan tagged Percival for was on back-to-back doubles from Gage Workman and Rey Rivera. Andrew Shaps took the mound for the first time since July 24 with a perfect fourth inning, tallying one strikeout. The Whitecaps began the sixth inning on Franklin De La Paz with back-to-back hits, putting two in scoring position with no outs. The lefty De La Paz recorded two outs on two pitches in his next two batters faced before walking Rey Rivera to end his night, leaving the game with the bases loaded for Melvin Jimenez. Jimenez walked his first two batters faced with the bases loaded, before a two-run single from Jimmy Kerr.

Three hits came as the fewest for the Loons offense since two hits on May 5 in the opening week of the season. An Andy Pages RBI single in the first inning highlighted the night. Pages finished with a single and two walks in five trips to the plate Thursday night. Justin Yurchak also singled, walking three times on five trips to the plate.

Daniel Cabrera finished with three hits in five at-bats, doubling twice and scoring twice. Cabrera clubbed a three-run homer in Wednesday’s contest, and doubled and scored in game one on Tuesday. At the bottom of the lineup, Jimmy Kerr recorded two singles, scoring two in the sixth and driving in one in the eighth.

With Dayton defeating Lake County at home, a Thursday loss removes Great Lakes from first in the East and will enter the weekend a half-game out of first of the Dragons. West Michigan holds a two-games-to-one advantage over the Loons entering Friday’s game.

2020 second-rounder Landon Knack makes his series debut for Great Lakes tomorrow night. In nine games, Knack holds a 2.86 ERA in 34 2/3 innings, recording 47 strikeouts and allowing five walks. Opposing Knack is West Michigan’s Brendan White, who brings a 3.98 ERA in 54 1/3 innings.

Following the West Michigan series, the San Diego Padres’ High-A Fort Wayne TinCaps invade Dow Diamond for the first time this series, beginning August 3. The Loons took four games of six against Fort Wayne from June 29-July 4.

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.