Whitecaps strand 14 in loss to Loons
The West Michigan offense had plenty of scoring opportunities on Friday night but were unable to make the most of them, losing by a final score of 5-4 against the Great Lakes Loons at Dow Diamond.
Despite having runners on the bases throughout the game, West Michigan (32-21, 73-50) left 14 runners on base, eleven of those in scoring position.
With the scored tied 4-4 entering the fifth inning, the game quickly turned into a battle of the bullpens. The Loons pitched with plenty of traffic on the bases but were able to keep the Whitecaps from scoring for the rest of the game.
Every starting player for the Whitecaps was able to record a hit, with 18-year old Domingo Leyba leading the offense going 4-4.
Whitecaps’ pitcher Ryan Longstreth was able to pitch in his hometown for the first time as a professional, but it ended up being a memorable outing for the wrong reason. After putting runners on the corners with two outs, Longstreth gave up a ground-rule double to Paul Hoenecke, giving the Loons a 5-4 lead.
Over the next two innings, the Whitecaps got to face reliever Jacob Rahme who entered the game with the Loons’ franchise record for longest scoreless streak for a relief pitcher (23.2 innings). The ‘Caps had a few opportunities to score against Rahme, but a key double play and four strikeouts allowed the hard-throwing pitcher to earn his sixth save of the year for the Loons.
Jordan Hershiser (1-1), the son of former MLB pitcher Orel Hershiser, earned the win for the Loons with two scoreless innings of relief.
Longstreth (0-1) took the loss for the Whitecaps, allowing one run in one inning.
Ziomek gets win number 10
Kevin Ziomek turned in another dominant pitching performance for the West Michigan Whitecaps on Saturday night, as they defeated the Great Lakes Loons by a final score of 7-2 at Dow Diamond.
West Michigan (33-21, 74-50) snapped their three-game losing streak with the win, which tied their longest losing streak of the season. Ziomek and reliever Montreal Robertson combined to only allow Great Lakes (26-28, 60-64) to just three hits for the game.
Ziomek (10-6) became the third Whitecaps’ pitcher to earn at least ten wins this year, joining Buck Farmer and Austin Kubitza. Although he struggled a bit with his command, the lefty managed to only allow one hit in six innings.
With only allowing one run in the game, Ziomek lowered his league-leading ERA to 2.27 and re-tied the league-lead in strikeouts with 135 for the year.
The only hit he allowed was a solo home run to Josmar Cordero that tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning. West Michigan didn’t wait long to respond, scoring six unanswered runs between the seventh and eighth innings.
Pat Leyland had a big night at the plate, going 2-4 with the go-ahead home run in the top of the seventh to give West Michigan a 2-1 lead.
Later in the inning, Ross Kivett doubled and scored on a two-out single by Javier Betancourt to give the ‘Caps a 3-1 lead.
West Michigan blew the game open in the eighth inning thanks to three hits, plus three errors by the Loons to give the ‘Caps a comfortable 7-1 lead entering the ninth inning.
Back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the ninth by Paul Hoenecke and Joey Curletta would give the Loons a second run, but that would be all the damage Robertson would allow.
Robertson (8) settled down to finish the game, striking out five over three innings while allowing one run on two hits and one walk to earn the save.
The Whitecaps wrap up their three-game road trip against the Loons today at 3:05 p.m. RHP Chad Green (5-4, 3.29) is scheduled to start for West Michigan against RHP Scott Barlow (6-4, 4.35) of Great Lakes.
