‘Caps Drop Series Finale to Loons
MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps missed a chance to leave Midland with a split of a six-game series, falling by a score of 6-3 to the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday at Dow Diamond. The Whitecaps bullpen struggled with its control, having walked a season-high eight batters in
MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps missed a chance to leave Midland with a split of a six-game series, falling by a score of 6-3 to the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday at Dow Diamond.
The Whitecaps bullpen struggled with its control, having walked a season-high eight batters in the defeat. The loss places the Whitecaps three games back of the first-place Loons as Great Lakes wins the series, four games to two.
The game remained scoreless until the fourth when the Loons Alex Freeland launched an opposite-field, two-run homer to give Great Lakes a 2-0 lead. The ‘Caps answered in the following frame, as Chris Meyers provided West Michigan its lone offensive highlight of the day with a towering two-run home run – measured at 469 feet and leaving Dow Diamond on the fly to tie the contest at two.
In the bottom of the frame, reliever Cristhian Tortosa entered and struggled for the second consecutive outing, walking three of the four batters he faced before being pulled from the contest. A wild pitch by pitcher Erick Pinales allowed the go-ahead run to score before a two-run homer by Damon Keith extended the lead to 5-2. Loons outfielder Austin Gauthier added a solo home run in the eighth to bring the score to 6-2 and propel Great Lakes to their fourth straight series victory. In the ninth, Meyers blasted his second home run of the contest and seventh of the season to conclude the scoring in the ballgame.
The ‘Caps record falls to 22-17, while the Loons improve to 11 games over .500 to 25-14. Loons starter Justin Wrobleski (1-2) allowed two runs in five innings to collect his first win of the season, while Tortosa (1-3) suffered his third loss after walking three batters in a third of an inning. Great Lakes pitcher Antonio Knowles tossed the final two frames of the contest to earn his first save of the season. Loons first baseman Dalton Rushing was ejected in the fourth inning by home plate umpire Juan Gomez – the third time a member of the Loons had been tossed from a game in the series. Meyers finished 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs and three RBI -- making him the first Whitecaps player with ten total bases in a single game this season.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps head home, but the schedule doesn’t get any easier as they take on the Lake County Captains to open a six-game series from LMCU Ballpark on Tuesday at 6:05 pm. Pitcher Wilkel Hernandez is expected to get the start for West Michigan. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 5:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2023 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.