Loons Lose Pitching Duel to Hot Rods

MIDLAND, Mich. - The Great Lakes Loons (5-5) lost a low-scoring pitchers' duel, 2-0, to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (9-3) on Tuesday night at Dow Diamond in the first game of a three-game series.

Both starting pitchers were very effective and neither team scored for seven innings. The Loons only had one hit and the Hot Rods had six. Each of Bowling Green's two runs were unearned.

The starting pitcher for the Hot Rods was Jeff Ames, the No. 13 prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system, according to Baseball America. Ames was incredible for Bowling Green, pitching five scoreless innings, while giving up just one hit. He struck out eight and did not give up a walk.

"I attribute (our hitting) to the pitching on the other side," Loons manager Razor Shines said. "Their starter was about as good of a starter as we've seen so far this year. He's been pretty good. Sometimes, even though we don't always want to do it, we have to tip our hat to the other guy. And tonight, he was pretty good."

Miguel Sulbaran was the starter for the Loons and while he was not quite as dominant as Ames, he still pitched five scoreless innings. He gave up three hits and walked four, while striking out three.

"I was working all my pitches really well," Sulbaran said. "It was nice to have a good outing against a good lineup."

Shines was also impressed with the outing from his young starter.

"Sulbaran was outstanding," the Loons manager said. "He commanded the strike zone and as a 19-year-old kid, that's tough to do at this level."

After both teams were held scoreless in the first seven innings, combining for just five hits, the Hot Rods finally got on the scoreboard in the eighth inning.

Nine-hitter Ryan Dunn reached on a single to right field. He advanced to second when Loons third basemen Paul Hoenecke committed a fielding error that allowed leadoff hitter Joey Rickard to reach first. On the same play, Dunn advanced to third on a Hoenecke throwing error. Dunn scored on sacrifice bunt from designated hitter Justin O'Connor. Rickard advanced to second base on the O'Connor bunt and then scored from third on a triple from three-hitter Andrew Toles, the No. 19 prospect in the Rays organization.

Toles was 3-for-4 on the night, coming up with half of Bowling Green's six hits for the game.

The bullpens for both teams were just as effective as their starters. Jonathan Martinez pitched four innings in relief for the Loons and did not give up an earned run, but took the loss in the game. Jose Molina (2-0) pitched three scoreless innings for Bowling Green and got the win. Ryan Garton set down all three Loons hitters in the ninth to pick up his third save of the year.

Great Lakes did showcase some very nice work in the field, turning four double plays in the game.

The Loons are back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Hot Rods in the second game of this three-game series. Lindsey Caughel (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is the probable starter for the Loons and is set to make his second start of the season. In his 2013 debut, he pitched six scoreless innings against Fort Wayne on April 5. Blake Snell (0-1, 4.91 ERA), the Rays No. 9 prospect, is set to make the start for Bowling Green. It will be his third start of the year. Snell has 13 strikeouts in 7.1 innings this season.

The Great Lakes Loons are a seventh-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. For tickets and more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.