Three Loons solo home runs enough to down Captains

Xzavion Curry pitched a career-high-tying 6.1 innings and struck out eight, but surrendered three solo home runs and took a hard-luck loss. (Tim Phillis - TCP Photography)

July 21, 2021

(Eastlake, OH) – The Lake County Captains (37-31) lossed 5-0 to the Great Lakes Loons (37-31) on Wednesday night at Classic Park. The Loons used three solo home runs and excellent pitching to power their way passed the Captains.

Both starters were perfect through the first three innings. Captains right-hander Xzavion Curry struck out two across three one-two-three frames. On the flip side, lefty Alec Gamboa struck out two and induced seven ground outs through three perfect innings.

After going perfect the first time through the Loons order, Curry gave up the game’s first hit and run in the fourth. On the first pitch of the inning, James Outman homered to right field to give Great Lakes a 1-0 lead.

The Loons added two runs in the top of the fifth. Andy Pages led off the inning with his team-leading 17th home run of the year. The long ball to left-center gave Great Lakes a 2-0 lead. With two outs in the inning, Deacon Liput hit a spinning grounder to first that went under

Joe Naranjo’s glove at first for an error. A balk moved Liput to second and Zac Ching followed with an RBI double; punched down the right field line to give the Loons a 3-0 advantage.

With one out in the seventh inning Joe Vranesh ended the night for Curry. Vranesh launched a no doubt opposite field blast to right field to push the Loons lead to 4-0.

Great Lakes added more insurance in the top of the ninth. On a bouncing ball back to the mound, Captains relief pitcher

Tim Herrin fielded cleanly but threw wildly to first base. Justin Yurchak raced to second on the Herrin error. Pages doubled down the left field line to drive in Yurchak and the Loons led 5-0.

Alec Gamboa (3-4) spun five scoreless innings to earn the win. He scattered two hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Curry (3-1) surrendered four runs, three earned to take the loss. The Loons tagged Curry for three solo home runs, while he struck out eight with no walks.

Zach Draper gets the ball for the Captains in his first Lake County start of the season on Thursday. First pitch is set for 7:00 p.m. at Classic Park.

About the Captains

The Lake County Captains are the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. For more information, visit the Captains’ website at www.CaptainsBaseball.com, Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/CaptainsBaseball, Twitter @LCCaptains and Instagram @LCCaptains. Fans can also get the latest Captains news and offers by signing up for the Captains’ newsletter, The Anchor.