Great Lakes can't overcome 5-0 deficit, lose 5-2
MIDLAND -- The Great Lakes Loons were unable to come back from an early deficit staged by the Fort Wayne TinCaps Thursday night at Dow Diamond, losing 5-2 in the series opener.
A pair of home runs from TinCaps Jace Peterson and Travis Whitmore set the Loons back 2-0 in the first inning. Fort Wayne continued to light up the scoreboard in the third inning, which began with a triple from Peterson. Second baseman Donovan Tate followed up with a single to left field to score Peterson. Tate moved to third on a stolen base and a passed ball before scoring on a groundout.
Loons Starter Brandon Martinez pitched five innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits, before he was relieved by Mike Thomas. Despite entering a game in which the opponent's bats were hot, Thomas said he was not worried.
"I wanted to go out there and just worry about the stuff that I could control," he said. "The score is what it is, but I was more worried about throwing strikes. And if I'm able to keep us in the game, then maybe we have a shot at the end."
And the keep the Loons in it he did, shutting down the TinCaps through the remaining four innings. Fort Wayne got two hits off Thomas, but nothing more, while the lefty picked up two strikeouts to one walk. Martinez was tagged with the loss, his second.
Offensively, only Joe Winker, Scott Schebler and Jesse Bosnik connected for one hit apiece. Winker hit a home run 385 feet in the fourth inning to score the Loons first run. A lead-off walk in the sixth to Delvis Morales resulted in the Loons second and final run, as Morales moved around the bases via a passed ball and two groundouts.
Fort Wayne's Adys Portillo (1-0) picked up the win, while Daniel Sarria notched his first save after one scoreless frame. The TinCaps Peterson was a double shy of hitting for the cycle.
The Loons will play game two of the four-game series with the Fort Wayne TinCaps on Friday at 6:05 p.m. Starting for Great Lakes will be LHP Matt Laney (0-0, 5.40) against the TinCaps RHP Joe Ross (0-1, 40.50).
