The Dragons loaded the bases twice with one out but couldn’t find a way to score. Great Lakes did. And the Loons handed the Dragons their sixth straight loss, 4-1.
The Dragons (7-15 second half, 28-59 full season) lost eight straight games from late May into early June against West Michigan and Lansing. After they broke the losing streak, the Dragons lost the next six to complete a stretch of 14 losses in 15 games.
The Dragons play their next seven games at home with hopes of changing their fortunes and not approaching anything like those dismal days.
One thing is going right for the Dragons. They got a second straight good starting pitching performance coming out of the all-star break. Luke Hayden allowed one run in five innings Friday night. Adam Serwinowski took a no-hitter into the fifth inning Saturday before the Loons got all the runs they needed.
But first, the Dragons had a chance to build on a 1-0 lead they gained in the third inning on Connor Burns’ ninth homer. Then the all-to-familiar, middle-of-the-game frustrating moments ensued.
The bottom of the fourth inning, both halves of the fifth, and the bottom of the seventh looked like a lot of missed opportunities this season. The Dragons were close to scoring three times and close to getting out of the Loons’ big inning when unfortunate events ensued.
With one out, the Dragons loaded the bases in the fourth on a single by Carlos Sanchez and walks to Anthony Stephan and Yerlin Confidan. But Peyton Stovall struck out and Carter Graham grounded into a fielder’s choice out at second.
“Everyone’s always up for the beginning because it’s a new day,” manager Vince Harrison Jr. said. “Everyone’s up for the end because it’s close at the end, but it’s the middle of the game. It’s those ABs where we had a chance to break it open and change the whole momentum, but we don’t.”
Wilman Diaz doubled with one out in the fifth for the Loons’ first hit. A fly ball made it two outs. Then the Loons did what the Dragons couldn’t. Kendal George singled to tie the score.
The speedy George, who has 45 stolen bases, stole second and third, Josue De Paula walked and stole second and Logan Wagner hit a perfectly placed average ground ball for a two-run single and a 3-1 lead to end Serwinowski’s night.
“Serwinowski was good,” Harrison Jr. said. “That was a momentum shift right there. We’d had a chance to blow it open, and we didn’t. It came back to get us.”
In the fifth, Burns and Acosta walked with one out. But Jorge hit into a double play that was a piece of bad luck. Replays showed that if there was replay review in the minors the out call at first would have been overturned and the Dragons would have had runners at first and third.
In the bottom of the seventh, Stovall hit a leadoff single, the Dragons’ third and final hit, pinch-hitter John Michael Faile walked and Burns was hit by a pitch. But Victor Acosta struck out and Jorge flew out to end the inning.
The Dragons went down 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth.
“We have to create our own luck,” Harrison Jr. said. “Sometimes you got to knock the door down. That seems to be a consistent theme here, but we just got to keep pushing.”
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