LANSING, Mich. – Myles Naylor hit a grand slam in the sixth to tie the game and an RBI fielder’s choice in the bottom of the 10th to boost the Lansing Lugnuts (1-8, 29-43) to an 8-7 walk-off win against the Great Lakes Loons (6-2, 42-29) at JacksonⓇ Field™ on Sunday afternoon.
The win marks the Lugnuts’ first since June 12 and snaps a franchise-record 11-game losing streak.
Down four runs in the bottom of the sixth, Loons reliever Matt Lanzendorfer issued walks to Jared Sprague-Lott, C.J. Pittaro and Rodney Green Jr., prompting a pitching change and bringing Naylor to the plate.
On the third pitch of his at-bat, Naylor hit a grand slam off of reliever Davis Chastain over the left-field wall to tie the game.
But Emil Morales responded with his own home run in the top of the seventh, a 462-foot solo bomb to retake a 5-4 lead.
Three batters later, Lansing had a chance to end the frame, but Eduardo Guerrero beat a would-be double play to first. On the following at-bat, Samuel Muñoz hit a two-run home run into center field to give the Loons a 7-4 advantage.
In the bottom of the eighth, reliever Jacob Frost allowed a three-run homer to Gunner Gouldsmith to tie the game up at seven.
Lansing reliever Blaze Pontes took over for Tucker Novotny in the ninth and retired the side, but the Lugnuts couldn't score, forcing extras. After Pontes kept the Loons scoreless in the top of the 10th, a Green groundout off reliever Dilan Figueredo advanced placed runner Pedro Pineda to third, and a fielder’s choice to short from Naylor plated Pineda to snap the losing streak.
Naylor finished 1-for-4 at the plate with five RBIs and two runs scored and a walk. Gouldsmith ended his afternoon 1-for-4 at the plate with three RBIs and one run scored.
On the mound, starter Nathan Dettmer pitched 4 ⅔ innings, allowing four runs and six hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Jorge Marcheco pitched 1 ⅓ scoreless innings before Jose Dicochea came in for an inning and allowed three runs and three hits. Novotny and Pontes combined for the final three scoreless innings.
The Lugnuts will head on the road for the next two weeks, first playing the Dayton Dragons from June 30- July 5 before playing the Lake County Captains from July 7-12. Lansing will return to JacksonⓇ Field™ for a three-game series against the Fort Wayne Tin Caps from July 17-19. 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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