Loons drop finale against Hawks

The South Bend Silver Hawks slugged their way to a 12-2 victory over the Great Lakes Loons Tuesday night in the finale of a five-game series in South Bend.

Loons’ starter Arismendy Castillo (1-3) surrendered 12 hits and five runs (all earned) in six innings of work. Joe Jones provided little relief in 2/3 of an inning, walking four batters and surrendering a hit before giving way to Miguel Sanfler. On a 3-1 pitch to his first batter, Sanfler surrendered a grand slam to Brad Miller, which put an exclamation mark on the South Bend victory.

Starter Brett Anderson, named to the league’s all-star squad prior to the game, threw six shutout innings, striking out seven. No. 9 hitter Richard Mercado was 4-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Gerrardo Parra, a notable all-star snub, went 3-for-5 with 3 RBIs.

The Loons (26-32) scored their first run on an errant throw by the catcher Mercado after a strikeout to Eduardo Perez. Josh Bell drove home the team’s second run with a single. Preston Mattingly went 0-for-4 to snap his hitting streak at 11 games, while Adolfo Gonzalez’s three hits paced the Loons’ offense.

Prior to the game, the Midwest League announced that Perez, Francisco Lizarraga, Clayton Kershaw, and Miguel Ramirez were named to the Eastern Division all-star team. Perez was selected as a starter at first base.

The Loons return to Dow Diamond Thursday for the first of four against the Fort Wayne Wizards. Game time Thursday is 7:05 p.m. with Michael Gardner set to take the mound for the Loons.

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