MIDLAND, Mich. – The Great Lakes Loons (74-54) (38-26) earned their second shutout win in the last three games taking care of the Lake County Captains (69-58) (32-31). The 5-0 win was the playoff clincher for the Loons on a partly cloudy 75-degree Saturday night at Classic Auto Group Park.
- Cam Leiter, in his third appearance as a Loons pitcher, provided five scoreless. The right-hander struck out three and permitted three hits. He stranded two on in the second inning. He retired 10 in a row from the end of the second through the fifth inning.
- The Loons offense left on four through the first two innings, they plated three in the third. Chuck Davalan singled aboard and Nico Perez moved him to third base with a loop single to left field. Jaron Elkins and Eduardo Guerrero earned back-to-back walks to push a run across. Victor Rodrigues got a seven-pitch walk to make it 2-0 and Gio Cueto saw four pitches to make it 3-0.
- Great Lakes bullpen earned the final 16 outs. Maddux Bruns permitted a double and issued a walk to start the sixth. The left-hander then forced a 4-6-3 double play and struck out Lake County’s Welbyn Francisca to end the game.
- In the seventh, Matt Lanzendorfer worked around two hit batters with two strikeouts. He gave up a single and walk to begin the eighth. The Loons pivoted to Dilan Figueredo. The right-hander who earned the final three outs in yesterday’s game one of the doubleheader would induce three putouts facing the Captains 2-3-4 hitters.
- Victor Rodrigues and Gio Cueto each earned their second RBI of the game in the ninth. Rodrigues added a sacrifice fly and Cueto smacked an RBI single.
- Dilan Figueredo earned the final three outs. Loons’ right fielder Jaron Elkins made a sliding catch in foul territory to end the game.
Rounding Things Out
The Loons will make their tenth postseason appearance in their 19th year as a franchise.
Up Next
Great Lakes and Lake County conclude their series tomorrow Sunday, September 6th. The first pitch is at 1:05 p.m. ET. The Loons will begin the postseason Tuesday September 8th; they will host the Dayton Dragons. The first pitch of game one in the three-game Midwest League East Division series is at 7:05 p.m. ET at Dow Diamond.
The Great Lakes Loons have been a partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and Sports Radio 100.9 The Mitt. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.