LANSING, Mich. – Aidan Foeller stifled the Lansing Lugnuts’ (0-5, 29-40) offense with five scoreless innings of two-hit baseball and the Great Lakes Loons’ (3-1, 39-29) contributed the necessary runs on their way to a 6-2 win on Wednesday night at JacksonⓇ Field™.
In two games against the Lugnuts this season, Foeller has combined for seven scoreless innings with just two hits and one walk along with five strikeouts.
“He pitched bottom of the zone, and his breaking ball was good today,” Lansing manager Javier Godard said. “So he was tunneling his fastball with his breaking ball, so it was very effective today.”
After Foeller, Great Lakes needed just two more pitchers: Isaac Ayon pitched three innings, allowing three hits and one run with four strikeouts, and Alex Makarewich finished the game with a one-run ninth.
Emil Morales got the scoring going for the Loons with a two-out solo home run to left field off of starter Steven Echavarria in the first inning.
A Chase Harlan RBI single in the third increased the gap, and Echavarria’s night ended prematurely after a three-hit, two-run fourth. A Chase Adkison sacrifice fly scored a third run, and the Loons made it 4-0 with a Jose D. Hernandez RBI single to center field.
In total, Echavarria pitched four innings, surrendering eight hits and four runs with two strikeouts.
“Threw a lot of strikes, just didn't get the results I wanted,” Echavarria said. “They found holes, they had (a) few sac flies, scored the runs, did their job. … Just couldn't execute.”
Relievers Jorge Marcheco, Tzu-Chen Sha and Blaze Pontes blanked the Loons in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings, combining for four strikeouts in the process, but the Loons tacked on two insurance runs in the ninth off of Jose Dicochea.
In 16 innings this season, mostly as a reliever, Marcheco has compiled a 1.69 ERA, the lowest among pitchers currently on the team.
“He gets out there and throws strikes, and even though he throws 88, 89 (miles-per-hour), he knows how to command his pitches,” Godard said. “And after a couple sliders and change-ups, he makes that fastball 89, 88, look like 94. He knows how to pitch it on and off the plate, and soft and hard, so he can move the ball both sides of the plate.”
After posting a 9.90 ERA in 11 games as a starter, the Lugnuts moved Sha to the bullpen. In three games as a reliever (four innings), Sha has a 2.25 ERA.
“He looks way better when he doesn't have a lot of pressure that he has to go five innings,” Godard said. “Just having one inning, maybe two, that's what we're kind of working on, and he's been getting some good results.”
After getting shut out in the first six innings, the Lugnuts’ offense finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh with a Justin Reimer single and a C.J. Pittaro RBI double.
In the bottom of the ninth, Pittaro collected his second RBI of the night with a single to score Carlos Franco, but it was too little, too late.
Batting in a new spot of the lineup, second, Pittaro finished 2-for-5 at the plate.
“I think he could be a good second hitter, even lead off, even though he can't run that much, but he will find a way to steal a bag when it's needed,” Godard said. “But he can put the ball in play, so that's what I was looking for today, and he did that.”
Franco went 2-for-4 with a double, ending an 0-for-17 slump.
In the other dugout, after a 3-for-5 night on Tuesday, Victor Rodrigues continued his success, going 3-for-4 on Wednesday with a double, while Hernandez finished 2-for-3 with a walk.
The Lugnuts have lost eight consecutive games.
Starter Samuel Dutton takes the hill for the Lugnuts on a special Margaritaville-themed Coors Light Thirsty Thursday, opposing Loons southpaw Jakob Wright. Gates open at 5:30 p.m., and the first 1,000 fans will receive a free Margaritaville T-shirt. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05. For tickets and more information, call (517) 485-4500 or visit www.milb.com/lansing.
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