MIDLAND, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps found themselves on the short end of a pitcher’s duel on Sunday at Dow Diamond, falling to the Great Lakes Loons by a score of 4-0.
West Michigan finishes the six-game series with the Loons by dropping the final five games after a Tuesday win to break a 14-game losing streak. The ‘Caps now return home for a six-game set against the South Bend Cubs, who sit in first place in the Midwest League West Division.
The contest got off to a quiet start, as both teams went scoreless for the first three innings before the Loons collected a solo home run by Jose Meza, his fourth of the season, to give Great Lakes a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, the Whitecaps launched a two-out rally with a hit batsman and a pair of walks before Ricardo Hurtado struck out to end the threat. In the eighth, the Loons rallied against ‘Caps reliever Ethan Sloan, plating three insurance runs in a frame highlighted by a two-run double by Jose Izarra to give Great Lakes a 4-0 advantage on their way to a fifth straight win in the series.
The Whitecaps' record drops to 13-26, while the Loons improve to 26-13. Jacob Frost (6-1) tossed 3.2 scoreless innings in relief while striking out seven to earn his sixth win of the season, while ‘Caps starter Gabriel Reyes (0-3) took his third loss of the season despite giving up just one run while walking five and striking out three. Nicolas Cruz retired the final four Whitecaps hitters to pick up his first save of the season. The Whitecaps finish the series having gone 5-for-55 (.090) with runners in scoring position.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps open a six-game series at LMCU Ballpark against the South Bend Cubs beginning Tuesday night, with the first pitch scheduled for 6:05pm. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 5:50pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.