The Lima Locos’ DJ Jackson receives the throw in time at first base to force out the Grand Lake Mariners’ Jackson Hower during Friday night’s game at Simmons Field. See more Locos photos at LimaScores.com.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA – A steady drizzle came down on Simmons Field most of the night.
But Locos right-hander Carter Doorn wasn’t the least bit bothered by the annoying rain.
Doorn was overpowering in the Locos’ 8-2 victory over Grand Lake on Friday.
Grand Lake could manage only two hits on the night against four Locos pitchers.
The Locos have won three in a row and five of their last six games.
“I think we have a really good group of guys who really care about being good,” Locos coach Matt Furuto said. “Through the struggles, we were still doing well, but one bad inning killed us. But they stayed positive and continued to work.’’
The Locos (17-15) are one game in front of Jet Box (16-16) for second place and the final playoff spot in the North Division of the Great Lakes Collegiate League.
The Locos have six regular-season games left.
Grand Lake is 14-18.
Locos starter All-Star Doorn (Purdue) threw 51/3 innings of no-hit ball before Grand Lake’s Adam Ebling broke up the no-hitter with an infield single to short in the sixth inning.
Doorn worked six innings and gave up one run on two hits. He struck out 11 and walked three.
“He’s been great,” Furuto said of Doorn. “He’s done a great job of mixing multiple pitches and then he has a good fastball. And he’s super competitive.’’
Doorn threw 94 pitches, 60 for strikes.
In the sixth inning, Doorn was throwing between 90 and 92 mph.
He was also throwing his breaking ball, change-up and slider for strikes.
“I had four or five pitches in the zone for strikes,” Doorn said. “I was working inside, outside to a lot of the hitters and was going up and down. It was one of those days where everything was working. It’s a lot of fun as a pitcher when you’re out there knowing that everything you throw is going to be over the plate.
“The fastball felt really good tonight. The biggest thing with me with the fastball was having the confidence in knowing that where ever I was going to throw it, I knew where it was going to go. Velocity helps, but when you can locate your fastball, that’s the biggest thing.’’
The game started at 8:11 p.m. after a one hour, and six-minute rain delay.
The Locos pushed across four runs in the third inning with only one hit to take a 4-0 lead.
Grand Lake starter Clark Gilmore (Dartmouth) struck out the first five batters he faced, as he faced only six hitters through the first two innings.
But in the third, he walked five and hit a batter, which led to the four Locos’ runs.
Locos shortstop Ty Gill had the only hit in the inning with an RBI single to left to give the Locos a 1-0 lead.
Bryant Herring’s sacrifice fly to left made it 2-0.
Derrick Jackson walked with the bases loaded and the Locos made it 3-0.
Gill scored from third on a wild pitch to give Lima a 4-0 lead.
The Locos added two runs in the fourth to make it 6-0.
Herring’s second sacrifice fly of the night gave the Locos a 5-0 lead.
Gill’s RBI single to left made it 6-0. Gill then stole second for his 20th steal of the year.
The Locos made it 8-0 in the fifth on a two-run double to center by Clay Jacobs.
“He (Jacobs) was good tonight,” Furuto said.
Grand Lake’s Manny Vorhees (Northern Kentucky/Wapakoneta) had an RBI single in the sixth to bring the Mariners within 8-1.
For the Locos, Gill went 2 for 3 with an RBI and a stolen base.
Herring had two RBI.
Jackson was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Jacobs had two RBI.
Grant Reising and Nicolas Lavelle pitched one inning of shutout, no-hit relief.
Caden Kline (Toledo/Defiance) pitched the ninth and gave up one unearned run and struck out three.
The Locos stood 10-13 on July 1. Since then, they are 7-2.
“We went through that really rough patch where we lost nine of 10,” Doorn said. “There were a few ballgames we had and we threw them away. We weren’t doing the little things right.
“As a team, it was the point of the season where it was do or die and a lot of these guys aren’t ready to go home. We want to make a playoff run.’’
Locos notes: The Locos head to Grand Lake Saturday and Sunday on the turf at Montgomery Field. Saturday’s game will start at 7:05 p.m., while Sunday’s will start at 4:05 p.m.
The Locos return home at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday against Richmond.
Second baseman Jayden Davis (Samford), who was given Friday off, is second in the league in hitting at .367.
Shortstop Ty Gill (Purdue) is second in the league in walks (22) and third in stolen bases (20).
Pitcher Carter Doorn (Purdue) leads the league in ERA at 0.77.
Pitcher Brayden Lybarger (Indiana State/Elida) was put on the inactive list after he had to leave a game on June 26 after experiencing discomfort in his right arm. He underwent Tommy John elbow surgery in May of 2021.
Guardians 6, Tigers 5
CLEVELAND — Andres Gimenez’s two-out RBI single in the seventh followed an RBI sacrifice fly by Josh Naylor, helping the Guardians rally for two late runs in 6-5 comeback win Friday against Detroit at Progressive Field.
Gimenez, who has seven hits and four RBI in his last seven games, entered the game batting .412 with 21 RBI with two out and runners in scoring position. He fought off an 0-2 sinker from Tigers reliever Michael Fulmer and dropped it into left field, allowing Steven Kwan to score the go-ahead run.
One batter earlier, Naylor drove an 0-1 slider from Fulmer deep to left with the bases loaded to score Myles Straw with the tying run.
Eli Morgan and Trevor Stephan made the runs hold up out of the Cleveland bullpen. Morgan pitched a scoreless eighth and Stephan, working in place of All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, slammed the door in the ninth for his second save of the season and fourth of his career.
It looked like Guardians starter Zach Plesac would finally get the run support he desperately needed when Cleveland took an early lead with three runs in the first, but Detroit scored five straight to pull ahead by two before the Guards mounted the final rally.
A Riley Green solo home run in the third put the Tigers on the board, and Detroit piled on four more runs in the fourth as some sloppy Cleveland defense helped their cause.
Jose Ramirez opened the inning by mishandling a Javier Baez grounder for an error. Harold Castro followed one batter later with the first of his two doubles to drive in Baez.
After a Willi Castro RBI single tied the score at 3, Jonathan Schoop sent a bouncing ball up the middle that Amed Rosario fielded behind the bag. But Rosario’s momentum carried him too far away to make a play, and his throw to first was not in time to get Schoop.
Robbie Grossman singled on a line drive to center off a frazzled Plesac, who then gave up a two-run double into the corner by Greene. That spelled the end of the line for Plesac, who exited after 3 2/3 innings allowing five runs (two earned) with three strikeouts. He did not allow a walk.
It’s the second consecutive outing where Plesac’s defense has let him down after he lasted five innings in a loss to Kansas City on July 10.
Cleveland got to Detroit righty Drew Hutchinson in the first when Kwan drew a leadoff walk before Rosario singled to bring Ramirez to the plate. Ramirez sent an RBI ground ball single through the right side for a 1-0 lead before Naylor’s RBI groundout made it 2-0. Ramirez’s RBI gave him an American League high 70, and Naylor’s was his fourth in 10 July games.
Owen Miller added a two-out RBI triple to score Ramirez from third. It was Miller’s first career triple as well as his 12th extra-base hit in his last 23 games.
