Locos drop series-opener, 7-1

LANSING, Mich. – Los Pepinillos Picantes del Norte (Great Lakes Loons, 2-1, 38-29) scored early to support a strong collaborative pitching effort in a 7-1 win over the Lansing Locos (0-4, 29-39) on Tuesday night at JacksonⓇField™.

Lansing finds itself on a seven-game slide, with its last win coming on June 12 against the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

Great Lakes took a quick 2-0 lead against Nathan Dettmer courtesy of an Emil Morales RBI double and a Jose Meza one-run sacrifice fly, tacking on a third run in the second with a Samuel Muñoz RBI single.

Los Pepinillos Picantes added RBI doubles from Muñoz and Victor Rodrigues in the sixth, and a run-scoring balk from relief pitcher Jack Mahoney coupled with an Eduardo Quintero RBI double in the eighth.

The bottom of the Great Lakes order did the bulk of the damage; the seven, eight and nine hitters, Cameron Decker, Rodrigues and Muñoz, combined to go 8-for-12 at the plate with three RBIs and four runs scored. The visitors’ roster as a whole tallied six doubles in the game.

“Even though they're the bottom of the lineup, they have a good lineup itself,” manager Javier Godard said. “So I think we kinda gave in a little bit and got a little too comfortable and too fine, and we fell behind. So we came down the middle, (and) they were ready for it. So we gotta make an adjustment on that.”

Dettmer pitched 4 ⅓ innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks with one strikeout before giving the mound to reliever Riley Huge.

“He (Dettmer) was a little scattered with his command today, not like we've seen lately,” Godard said. “But after that first two innings, he kind of figured (it) out a little bit, but he ran out of pitches too early.”

“I wasn't too happy with it (his performance), but looking back, I still gave us a chance, and I was happy that I bounced back from the first couple innings,” Dettmer said. “Just too many free bases, and they took advantage of it.”

Huge pitched 1 ⅓ innings, giving up two runs and three hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Luis Carrasco fired 1 ⅓ innings of scoreless baseball, and Mahoney allowed two runs and two hits with two strikeouts. Gerlin Rosario finished the game with a scoreless ninth.

Lansing’s only run came via a C.J. Pittaro RBI single that plated Myles Naylor in the second inning. After a three-hit performance on Saturday at West Michigan, Naylor led Lansing’s offense on Tuesday, going 2-for-4 at the plate.

“I think (I’m) just picking the right pitches to swing at, staying within myself, within my zone, and not trying to do too much at the plate, and just staying patient,” Naylor said about his recent success.

Starter Steven Echavarria leads the charge for the Lugnuts on Wednesday, facing off against Great Lakes Aidan Foeller. Gates open at 6 p.m. for a Dog Days of Summer, with dogs welcome at the ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.

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