Struggling offense, relief pitching dooms Loons

The Great Lakes Loons struggled at the plate and on the mound Tuesday as the team fell to the West Michigan Whitecaps 6-1 at Dow Diamond.

The game was a pitcher’s duel through the first six innings as Kyle Smit did his best to follow up Steven Johnson’s quality start from Monday. Smit worked six innings, allowing only a first-inning Jeramy Laster two-run single to left that gave the Whitecaps a 2-0 lead.

But Lance Parrish was forced to go to his bullpen and call upon lefty Yulkin German, who was recently activated after being shelved with shoulder soreness since early July. Prior to going on the disabled list, German had given up a total of 20 runs in his previous four appearances and fared no better in surrendering back-to-back singles before allowing a two-run triple to give the Whitecaps a 4-0 lead.

RBI-doubles by Brennan Boesch and James Skelton in the eighth completed the scoring for the Whitecaps.

Adolfo Gonzalez provided the only offense of the ballgame for the Loons with his fifth home run of the season, an opposite field shot off Whitecaps’ starter Charlie Furbush.

Smit picked up the tough-luck loss in falling to 0-3 on the season. Garrett White pitched at Dow Diamond for the first time since July 1 in relief, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out two. Thomas Melgarejo pitched a scoreless ninth inning, as well.

Furbush (4-0) continued his Midwest League dominance in picking up his fourth win of the season. The lefty went seven innings giving up only the Gonzalez home run. He allowed five hits, walked one, and struck out seven. Luis Marte pitched a perfect two innings in relief, striking out a pair of Loons to end the ballgame.

The Loons-Whitecaps series continues Wednesday night when the Dodgers 2007 first-round pick James Adkins is scheduled to get the start for Great Lakes. Game time is set for 7:05 P.M.

Game Notes:

After the ballgame, Loons manager Lance Parrish announced that German had been released by the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. The 23-year old ends his Loons’ career with no record and a 17.44 ERA in 16 innings of work.

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