MIDLAND- The Great Lakes Loons playing their 2nd game of the home stand lost to the South Bend Cubs 2-1 at Dow Diamond this afternoon.  Coming into the game the Loons were on a hot streak with a 8-2 record in their last 10 games.  Some recent additions to the Loons roster have added some firepower in the batting order.  The Loons had 2,457 fans on a cool overcast day at the Dow.

The Loons had 8 hits on the afternoon but couldn't really manage any threats except for scoring a run in the 7th inning.  Darien Tubbs and Omar Estevez would lead the team with 2 hits each on the day.   Great Lakes now drops to 45-60 on the season and stand at 16-19 in the second half in fourth place.   They will have their work cut out for them to make the playoffs with basically a month left in the season.   They have to finish either in 1st or 2nd in the second half of the season to qualify for the Midwest League playoffs.  

Rising star and hot prospect Yadier Alvarez would start for the Loons and pitch 4 innings.  He is being moved along slowly for Great Lakes and the Dodgers.  He would finish with 4 strikeouts and allowed 3 hits with 1 earned run.   What impressed me the most was the speed that Yadier threw during his four innings.  He would register 96-99 mph in the four innings.  This would be the fastest pitcher that I have seen in the 10 years of covering the Great Lakes Loons.  That would include Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw who would touch 95 mph during his half season in Midland. 

The Loons will now have two more games with the Cubs and then welcome the Lake County Captains for a 3 game set.