Loons tied with Fort Wayne for final playoff spot
MIDLAND -- Despite rallying to tie the game late, the Great Lakes Loons were bested by the visiting West Michigan Whitecaps, who pushed a run across in the ninth inning to win 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Dow Diamond in front of 4,784 fans.
Loons reliever Scott McGough entered the game in the top of the ninth inning and gave up a walk to Dixon Machado to begin the frame, which became the game winning run after the Whitecaps hit two singles to right field. McGough was charged with the loss, his second of the season.
The game began with four scoreless innings, which was broken by the Whitecaps in the top of the fifth on a two-run homer from left fielder Jeff Rowland. The Loons responded in the bottom of sixth inning to cut the Whitecaps lead to one with a Blake Dean single which scored Casio Grider, who hit his eighth triple of the season to get on base.
"I was just trying to put good wood on the ball," Grider said of his third at-bat. "I wasn't trying anything new out. In fact, the line drive just fell in the right spot and it allowed me to run [to third]."
In the seventh the Loons tied it up when Leon Landry hit a single to right field that scored Jon Garcia from third base. Unfortunately for the Loons, they did not score again.
"It's not fun having games close and losing them like that," Grider said. "But it just shows that both teams are battling. We're doing something right [to be in these games], we just came up short today."
Left-handed pitcher Greg Wilborn started for the Loons Sunday and allowed two runs on five hits over five innings of work. The southpaw fanned six Whitecaps and walked three before Pete Budkevics stepped in for relief. Budkevics ate up three innings for the Loons, keeping the Whitecaps scoreless in that time and fighting off a runner-on-third-with-one-out situation in the eighth.
