Hillman one-hits Loons in tough-luck loss

(Eastlake, OH) - Juan Hillman was very nearly unhittable on Wednesday morning, but even his brilliant performance was not enough for the Lake County Captains (5-2, 32-44) to defeat the Great Lakes Loons (4-3, 40-36). The left-hander took a perfect game into the sixth inning and a no-hitter into the seventh. Though he ultimately lost the no-hitter on a one-out double by Cody Thomas in the seventh, Hillman spun seven shutout innings and gave up just one hit. The Captains' offense, however, came up empty, and Keibert Ruiz hit a grand slam for Great Lakes in the ninth to drive the Loons past Lake County, 4-3.
Hillman started off his morning strong with a pair of swinging strikeouts in a one-two-three first inning. The lefty kept setting down the Loons in order with perfect frames in the first five innings. Hillman retired the first 17 batters he faced before surrendering a two-out walk to the nine-hitter, Gersel Pitre, in the sixth. 

Hillman still had lost his perfect game, but he maintained a no-hitter going into the seventh. The southpaw struck out Gavin Lux looking to begin the inning, but fell behind the next batter, Cody Thomas. On a 3-1 pitch, Thomas hit a line drive to right field that fell in the gap for a base hit to end Hillman's no-hit bid. Captains right fielder Conner Capel slipped while fielding the ball and Thomas landed on second with a double.
The Captains' starter no longer had a no-hitter, but he still had work to do after Thomas' double. With the game still scoreless, the Loons had the potential go-ahead run on second with just one out. Hillman walked Ruiz, but nearly followed that up with a double play ball. Oneil Cruz bounced a grounder to shortstop, but the Captains could only record one out at second as Cruz beat the relay throw to first. Great Lakes had runners on the corners with two outs, but Hillman punched out Mitchell Hansen looking to end the frame. Hillman ended his day with seven innings of one-hit, shutout baseball. He tied a career-high with eight strikeouts and walked just two.
The Captains let opportunities to score slip throughout the ballgame and in the ninth, that came back to bite them. Captains reliever Jacob Lee had pitched a perfect eighth inning, but walked the first three batters in the top of the ninth. Lake County brought in Ryder Ryan to pitch to Ruiz with the bases loaded. Ruiz, a switch-hitter batting left-handed, hit a high fly ball over the right-centerfield wall for a grand slam to put the Loons on top, 4-0. Ruiz's homer was just the second hit allowed by the Captains all game. The Loons did not register another hit afterwards.
Lake County went quietly in the bottom of the ninth. Andre Scrubb gave up a one-out walk to Jose Medina, but set down the other three batters he faced to end the game. Scrubb (3-0) earned the win with two shutout innings in relief. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out three. Lee (0-1) took the loss.
The Captains were shut out for the first time since May 31 and they ended their streak of 19 consecutive games with a home run. Lake County also saw a four-game winning streak come to a close. The Captains have still won two of the first three games in the four-game series against Great Lakes and will have a chance to win their fifth straight series if they win on Thursday night. Lake County and Great Lakes square off at 7:00 PM at Classic Park.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). 12- and 20-game mini ticket plans for the 2017 season are on sale now at great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.