Stung by a Bee

MIDLAND, Mich. -- We didn't get underway until 8:51 p.m. local time. It was a night of baseball we weren't sure we were even going to be able to play due to all of the severe weather hitting the state of Michigan on Saturday. And with the final out recorded at 12:03 a.m., the Great Lakes Loons officially fell 7-3 to the Burlington Bees at Dow Diamond.
The story of the day was the massive thunderstorms that washed out a game in the Midwest League in Wisconsin before making their way across Lake Michigan and started threatening every city in its path. Heavy rainfall drenched Midland before gates opened, and an ominous forecast delayed the game 1 hour and 46 minutes.
Once underway, both teams failed to get the bats to wake up for most of the night. With the Bees clinging to a 1-0 lead as we entered the final three innings, it was a six-run outburst from Burlington in the 7th that blew the game wide open. The Loons (57-38) attempted to mount a comeback by scoring three runs in the 8th, but a baserunning blunder left the bases loaded to end the threat.
Stephen Kolek was on his way to having a quality start and one of his better outings in a Loons uniform, until the Bees sent 11 batters to plate. After a groundout to begin the inning, Burlington strung together a sequence of double, walk, walk, single, strikeout, walk, single, single, single before a pop out took mercy on Great Lakes. Kolek did, however, set a new career-high with nine strikeouts.
Kody Hoese and Michael Busch made their much-anticipated Loons debuts, with Busch getting his first hit at the Single-A level. Both were drafted in the 1st round by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2019 MLB Draft and had previously seen time with the Arizona League Dodgers before earning the promotion to the Loons.
Sun: Inclusion Day
Mon: Skip Work Day
July 30: Bark in the Park
July 31: Loons BINGO Night
Aug 1: House Divided Night
Aug 2: Margaritaville Night
The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team's inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team's home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.