Great Lakes takes series from Dayton with 5-2 win
MIDLAND -- Trailing since the first inning, the Great Lakes Loons turned up the heat on the Dayton Dragons in the final frames to come out with the 5-2 victory Friday night in front of a Dow Diamond sell-out crowd of 5,270.
With the game tied 2-2 and one out in the bottom of the eighth, Christian Lara singled to get on base and then moved to second on a Jason Braun wild pitch, setting the stage for Nick Buss and the most unconventional play of the game.
“We were trying to do some hit and runs earlier in the at-bat and it wasn’t working,” Buss said. “Then with two strikes, [Braun] threw a fastball up over the plate and I was able to get decent wood on it. What happened from there was just kind of wild.”
Buss hit, counted as a single, fell into left field and Lara was waved home coming from second. A potential play at the plate was in order, but the outfielder Josh Garton chucked the ball away from home plate for a throwing error. The catcher Chase Weems scrambled to get the ball while Buss rounded first, bringing about another errant throw, this time by Weems, that flew over second base. Buss kept in stride to survive the second throw to home plate and score the second run for the Loons 4-2 advantage.
“We’re at home trying to win the series,” Loons manager Juan Bustabad explained. “We needed to try to put some pressure on them and we did. And they started throwing the ball away here and there and they made some errors that cost them.
Loons tacked on another run in the eighth when Junior Martinez tossed a wild pitch that scored Brian Cavazos-Galvez from third.
The Dragons starting pitcher Daniel Corcino held the Loons scoreless with only one-hit through 5.2 innings, fanning seven and walking one before the bullpen got involved, much to the Loons advantage. Josh Wall started for Great Lakes and allowed one run in five innings of work. Jordan Roberts pitched three innings for the win before Luis Vasquez notched his 19th save on the year.
The Loons rally began in the seventh inning, when two singles to put runners on the corners. After a wild pitch by Braun, catcher J.T. Wise grounded out to third base to score Blake Smith. Loons third baseman Brian Ruggiano found a single later in the inning to score the game-tying run.
The Loons welcome a new opponent to Dow Diamond Saturday as the West Michigan Whitecaps, Single-A affiliate for Detroit, come to Midland for a four-game series. LHP Ryan Christenson (2-0, 5.24) will go pitch for the Loons, while LHP Jared Wesson (6-1, 2.17) will go for the Whitecaps. Following the game will be another Fireworks Loontacular presented by Dow Corning, preceded by the MBS Ball Launch.
The Great Lakes Loons are a fourth-year Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers and members of the Midwest League. For more information about the Loons, visit Loons.com or call 989-837-BALL.
