Great Lakes Loons defeat Dragons to move to one game below .500

The Great Lakes Loons opened a short 3-game home stand with the Dayton Dragons with a 9-7 win before a good crowd at the Dow Diamond.  Playing the 101st game of the season the Loons would move one game over .500 in beating the last place Dayton Dragons.

The Loons in a season long promotion gave away a Mark Howe bobblehead to the first 1,000 fans through the gate.  This has been a very popular promotion for the Loons and gets a large crowd to Dow Diamond early.  Great Lakes just finished a successful road trip with a 4-2 record to get them to .500 in the second half.  The Lansing Lugnuts are still running away with the Eastern Division of the Midwest League again in the 2nd half. 

With a balanced attack tonight saw 5 different Loons players get 2 hits each to pace the 11 hit attack.  Darnell Sweeney had 2 hits and also stroked a home run for the Loons come from behind win.  Michael Thomas picked up the victory for the Loons and saw his record move to 4-2 on the season.  Dayton Dragons Sean Buckley was the big hitter tonight with a 3-run home run.  The Dragons fall to 41-60 on the season. 

After this quick 3-game series the Loons will go on another 7 game road trip returning to the Dow Diamond on Saturday August 4.  The Loons will then only have 10 more road games for the rest of the season.  The Loons have an opportunity to secure a playoff position because currently the top two teams in the Eastern Division already have clinched playoff spots for the end of the season Midwest League playoff.  I expect things to heat up at the Dow during the month of August as John Shoemaker's charges make a run for the Championship.