Fort Wayne's Sampson dominates on the mound
The Great Lakes Loons collected only six hits Monday night, which was not enough to beat Fort Wayne who won 8-1 at Dow Diamond and took the three-game series.
Down only one, the game got away from the Loons in the fifth inning, in which the TinCaps put up four runs on four hits. Shortstop B.J. Guinn led-off with a single to left field that was bobbled by Loons outfielder Bobby Coyle, advancing Guinn to second. Guinn scored on the next play, a fielding error from Blake Dean that allowed TinCaps Chris Bisson to reach base. Rymer Liriano hit an RBI-single in the inning, and Oscar Garcia found a two-run double.
After the ‘Caps four runs in the fifth, Loons starting pitcher Garrett Gould was pulled from the game with still two outs remaining in the fifth and the bases loaded. Gould picked up his fourth loss in the outing, in which he allowed five runs, four earned, on nine hits across 4.1 innings. The righty struck out two and intentionally walked one, before Raul Burgos entered in relief.
Burgos escaped the bases-loaded jam with two groundouts, but at the start of the sixth inning he surrendered back-to-back home runs to the TinCaps eight and nine hitters. Fort Wayne scored one final run on a Tyler Stubblefield sacrifice fly in the seventh inning, charged to reliever Andrew Pevsner. Pete Budkevics and John Housey each pitched a scoreless inning for the Loons.
The Loons lone run was crafted in the bottom of the fifth, when Leon Landry pushed David Iden across home plate to prevent the shut out. Offensively it was Blake Dean and Casio Grider who led the team with two hits apiece.
“We had good pitching here and there, but we just couldn’t put it together tonight,” Grider said after the game. “You know, a few errors here and there, and it’s just baseball. Some of the errors that are being made are pretty tough plays, but it’s something we have to work on.”
The Loons have committed 12 errors over the last three games, including three Monday night, however only one run in their 8-1 loss against Fort Wayne was unearned. The TinCaps batters touched the Loons for 14 hits in the win.
After an off day on Tuesday, the Loons will hit the road to Clinton, Iowa; and Wisconsin. Throwing for the Loons on Wednesday will be LHP Ryan Christenson (7-5, 4.14) against the LumberKings RHP Taijuan Walker (3-4, 2.76). The Loons will return to Dow Diamond on Wednesday, July 20, which will be one of Chemical Bank’s $1 Family Feast Nights, where fans can purchase hot dogs, 16 oz. Coke products and ice cream sandwiches for one dollar each.
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