Estevez Propels Loons Forward

MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons opened up their first night home after being on the road for seven days with a 4-3 walk-off win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Monday night at Dow Diamond. Going into the bottom of the 9th inning, the game was tied 3-3 until Omar Estevez singled with one out to bring Darien Tubbs around the horn to take game one of the three-game series.

After Tubbs reached on a fielder's choice, Luke Raley was able to keep the inning alive with two outs by getting hit by a pitch to put push Tubbs to second base. The Cuban second baseman stepped to the plate and roped a pitch from Elvin Liriano (BS, 2; L, 1-2) to the wall in left field giving the Loons their 6th walk off of the season.

With the win, coupled with losses by the Lansing Lugnuts and Lake County Captains, the belt on the Midwest League playoff race tightened even more as the Loons moved within a ½ game of the Lugnuts for the final 2nd half playoff spot.

The TinCaps jumped out to an early lead with a run in the top of the 3rd inning when Tyler Selesky came home on Peter Van Gansen grounding out to third base. The Loons weren't far behind as they responded in the bottom half of the frame when Estevez doubled and scored on a single by Ibandel Isabel to make the score 1-1. For the game, Estevez was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in.

Fort Wayne took the lead again in the 5th on a single by Selesky that brought Brad Zunica in to score. Still with nobody out, Jose Carlos Urena grounded out and collected an RBI as Chris Baker was able to come home and put the TinCaps ahead by two runs. 

After Saige Jenco walked to begin the bottom of the 5th and scored two batters later to make it a 3-2 ballgame, the next two innings were scoreless.

Great Lakes slugger Isabel then knotted the score in the 8th with his sixth home run of 2016 on a 430-foot long ball to center field. The momentum continued on through the top of 9th for the Loons as Dennis Santana (W, 5-9) struck out the first two batters of the frame and kept Fort Wayne off the scoreboard.

Jordan Sheffield put in two scoreless innings of work in his start for the Loons and struck out four batters. Dean Kremer then came in for two innings as well, allowing one run on one hit with three strikeouts. Santana was called to the bump for the final five frames and the right-hander allowed two runs on four hits, walked one and managed to accumulate eight strikeouts earning the victory. 

Taking the mound for Great Lakes tomorrow night in his second start at Dow Diamond will be Leo Crawford. The 19-year-old is 1-1 on the season and has struck out 11 batters in 14 2/3 innings. The TinCaps will send 20-year-old Jean Cosme to the bump. The righty is 8-7 on the season with a 3.39 ERA. 

You can hear coverage of game two between the Loons and TinCaps beginning at 6:35 p.m. on ESPN 100.9-FM with Chris Vosters and Brad Tunney. You can also follow Chris (@CJVosters), Brad (@brad_tunney) and the Loons (@greatlakesloons) on Twitter over the next two weeks for full coverage of the MWL playoff race.

The Great Lakes Loons, hosts of the 2017 Midwest League All-Star Game, have been a Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007 and are in their 10th season. For tickets and more information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.