Lugnuts lose late lead, fall to Loons

MIDLAND, Mich. - The Lansing Lugnuts (21-31, 58-60) brought a 6-5 lead to the seventh inning, but the Great Lakes Loons (23-29, 59-62) scored three runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth for a 10-6 win on Wednesday night at Dow Diamond.

With one out in the pivotal seventh, Nick Hartman (Blown Save, 3; Loss, 2-2) walked Tyler Adkison and Nick Yarnall. Stevie Berman singled in Adkison to tie the game, and a Moises Perez fielder's choice brought in Yarnall for the lead. After Jared Carkuff relieved Hartman, the Loons capped the rally on a run-scoring fielding error committed by second baseman Mattingly Romanin .

Another error by Romanin opened the door to the pair of Loons runs in the eighth, with an RBI infield single from Brock Carpenter and a run-scoring double play from Adkison closing out the scoring.

Loons reliever Andre Scrubb (Win, 5-2) pitched the final four innings, allowing three hits and one run.

The Lugnuts only collected five hits in the game, but they carried weight. Nash Knight hammered a three-run homer to give the Lugs a 3-0 lead in the first inning; Joshua Palacios slugged a two-run shot to tie the game at 5-5 in the second inning; Ridge Smith led off with a single and was singled home by Rodrigo Orozco for a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning; and Romanin doubled to right-center in the ninth.

The first inning lasted over 40 minutes. Great Lakes starter Alfredo Tavarez faced eight Lugnuts, gave up three runs and recorded only two outs before exiting. Lansing starter Yennsy Diaz faced nine Loons, gave up five runs and survived only one more inning before his night was done.

Andrew Deramo turned in the Nuts' best performance, with three scoreless innings in relief of Diaz, striking out three and allowing three hits and a walk.

Lugnuts leadoff hitter Orozco finished 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored in the loss, with catcher Smith going 1-for-2 with two walks of his own.

Great Lakes third baseman Jared Walker was ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the fifth inning.

The Loons have won two of the first three games in the four-game series. The finale is set for 7:05 p.m. Thursday, with Lansing right-hander Patrick Murphy (3-2, 2.82) oppose Loons southpaw Leo Crawford (6-10, 4.82).

The next Nuts home game is at 7:05 p.m. against the South Bend Cubs on Friday, August 18th, a Family Faith Night with postgame LAFCU Fireworks. Tickets may be purchased at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com.
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