Fort Wayne fights but falls short to Loons

MIDLAND, Mich. — The Fort Wayne TinCaps had their rally fall short Tuesday in a 6-4 loss to the Great Lakes Loons in the first of a four-game road series at Dow Diamond.

The TinCaps (13-24 first half, 46-59 overall) fell behind 5-0 after five innings before mounting a rally in the top of the seventh inning.

Blake Hunt, who has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games, began the frame with a single to left. After Ethan Skender flied out to right field, Michael Curry and Luke Becker both singled to load the bases. Tyler Benson then ripped a bases-clearing triple.

Benson scored on a Tucupita Marcano single, making it 5-4 Great Lakes, and Marcano — representing the potential game-tying run — reached third on an errant pickoff throw with one out.

Great Lakes (22-15, 65-39), an affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers that is in first place in the Midwest League, got out of the jam. It added an insurance run in the home half of the seventh on a solo home run from Leonel Valera.

Hunt and Marcano both finished with a pair of hits to lead the TinCaps. Agustin Ruiz also singled. In his last nine games, Hunt, a 20-year-old catcher from Costa Mesa, California, is batting .333 with a double, a home run and three RBIs.

The Loons built their lead in the top of the first inning off TinCap lefty starter Ryan Weathers. Kody Hoese began the scoring for the Loons with an RBI double, and Jacob Amaya followed with a two-run single to center field to give the home team a 3-0 advantage.

Great Lakes tacked on two more in the fifth when Leonel Valera doubled home Jair Camargo, and Chris Roller knocked in a run on a groundout.

Weathers (3-5), who at one point retired 10 straight batters, allowed five earned runs on eight hits in taking the loss. He also struck out four batters without allowing a walk.

Dwanya Williams-Sutton, who was making the second start of his career in center field and entered the night having reached base in the previous 17 games, had the streak come to an end with an 0-for-3 performance, including a pair of strikeouts. His on-base percentage dipped slightly to .406, but it still leads the MWL.

Fort Wayne will go for its third win in four games tonight as right-hander Sam Keating takes to the hill against Stephen Kolek of Great Lakes. First pitch is slated for 7:05 p.m.