Offense stays hot in Loons’ 11-9 win

Great Lakes pounded out 17 hits and scored in double figures for the second straight game as the Loons hung on for an 11-9 victory over the South Bend Silverhawks Monday night.

The Loons took a 2-1 lead in the third on an RBI single by James Peterson and would add to that lead in the fourth. Home plate umpire Antonio Gutierrez left the game after taking a foul ball off his facemask, forcing a 20-minute delay. On the second pitch after play resumed, Josh Bell hit his seventh home run of the season, a line drive shot to right.  Preston Mattingly followed with a triple and scored on a ground ball by Scott Van Slyke to make it 4-1.

But the Silverhawks tied the score with three of their own in the bottom half off Loons’ starter Thomas Melgarejo. But Great Lakes would come right back and take the lead for good in the fifth on RBI singles from Peterson and Mattingly. South Bend pulled to within one run on two separate occasions, but never retied the game.

Offensively, Hunt led the way with four hits and three driven in, while Peterson had three RBIs on three hits. Perez also had three hits on the evening, and Mattingly extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a 2-for-5 performance.

Melgarejo (1-4) surrendered six runs – all earned – in 5 2/3 innings for his first win of the season. Doug Brooks tossed the final 3 1/3 innings to pick up his second save of the year.

The Loons and Silverhawks have combined for 39 runs and 64 hits the past two games.  The game lasted three hours and eight minutes, the Loons’ longest game of the season.

A box score of Monday’s game is available at milb.com.