Steady Bats Enough for Loons

MIDLAND, Mich. - With the weather starting to feel much more like summer around Dow Diamond, it was a double from Great Lakes Loons outfielder Carlos Rincon that was the difference in the 3-2 victory over the Lake County Captains on Monday.
Little wind and 74 degrees at first pitch made for a great evening as the ball was flying around the yard early and often. Lake County used three errors by the Loons to tag starter Leo Crawford for two unearned runs. However, the lefty and his defense settled down after that as Crawford finished off his quality start going six solid innings allowing five hits with four strikeouts.
The Loons (17-20) didn't waste any time getting on the scoreboard either as they loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 2nd inning. Cody Thomas, Keibert Ruiz and Mitchell Hansen all singled moving station to station before Gage Green pushed the first run across. Despite grounding into a double play, Saige Jenco still brought another run across to score.
Both starters took over the game after that with Aaron Civale also earning a quality start for the Captains (13-23) allowing two runs on eight hits over six innings. Like Crawford, he did not issue a walk to go along with his seven strikeouts.
The lineup for Great Lakes had three different players turn in multi-hit games at the plate with Rincon, Green and Gavin Lux doing the damage. Green and Rincon also had doubles for two of the three extra-base hits in the game.
It was against reliever Ben Krauth (L, 3-1) when Rincon broke the deadlock in the bottom of the 8th for his 22nd RBI of the season. Despite not hitting a home run during the entirety of the team's recent road trip, the Dominican still holds the Midwest League lead in that category.
In what is becoming a major strength for this Loons team, the bullpen was stout once again in relief as Miguel Urena (W, 2-0) and Angel German (SV, 1) combined for three shutout innings allowing just one hit and two walks.
The short homestand continues against Lake County on Tuesday night with right-hander Dustin May (0-1, 3.45 ERA) slated to start for the Loons while the Captains will counter with Brady Aiken (0-6, 4.66). The first 1,000 fans through the gates get the first of three Midwest League Championship posters in Tuesday giveaway that runs through the rest of the month.
The 2016 Midwest League Champions and hosts of the 2017 MWL All-Star Game presented by GoGreat.com have been a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007. For tickets and more information about the Great Lakes Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.