MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps gave the team with the best record in the Midwest League all it could handle as part of a doubleheader split in front of 5,795 fans on Saturday night at Dow Diamond, losing to the Great Lakes Loons in the opener 3-2 before cruising to an 11-2 victory in the nightcap on an evening that spanned nearly six hours.
In the opener, a wild pitch by Whitecaps reliever Thomas Bruss allowed Loons outfielder Samuel Munoz to score the winning run, marking the second time the Loons have walked off the ‘Caps on a wild pitch. On May 14, the Whitecaps issued a wild pitch to help Great Lakes topple West Michigan in another 3-2 defeat. In Game 2, the ‘Caps rode a two-homer night from infielder Cristian Santana and the first home run in professional baseball from outfielder Caleb Shpur to help get the much-needed split.
The first game saw the Whitecaps overcome a pair of solo home runs by the Loons' Logan Wagner and Chuck Davalan with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. Both bullpens dominated to keep the game scoreless into the eighth and extra inning. Meanwhile, the Whitecaps were unable to take advantage of their scoring chances, going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position, setting up the wild pitch to end the contest. The nightcap saw a contest highlighted by a six-run sixth inning to put the game out of reach from the Loons.
The Whitecaps move to 13-10 in the second half and 37-50 overall, while the Loons record sits at 16-6 in the back half of 2026 and 52-34 overall. Loons reliever Davis Chastain (7-0) and ‘Caps righty Logan Berrier (2-3) each picked up wins for tossing over an inning of scoreless relief, while Santana’s two-homer night helps join Jackson Strong as ‘Caps players with a multi-homer performance. The contest began with a 31-minute delay in an effort for the air quality could improve a day after making the postponement of Friday night’s contest necessary.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps and Loons finish this series Sunday at Dow Diamond with first pitch scheduled for 1:05pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 12:50pm on ‘The Ticket West Michigan’ and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.