Beating the Beets

CELINA - Grand Lake moved its start time to Sunday's game to early evening to try and beat the heat.

Then the Mariners rallied to beat the Beets.

The Mariners tied Saginaw in the bottom of the sixth and then scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to get the 7-4 win over the expansion Sugar Beets at Montgomery Field.

It's the sixth straight win for the Mariners, who are 7-0 at home this season, as they improve to 12-7 and move into a tie for first in the Northern Division with Lima.

"We're pitching the ball well with our starters," said Mariners skipper Damon Haecker. "When you're not walking guys on the mound and playing clean defense, all it takes is a few bats. That's one thing we've done consistently: hit the ball."

The teams leapfrogged each other in scoring runs. Saginaw scored one in the top of the second inning with the Mariners plating two in the bottom of the inning. The Sugar Beets went up 3-2 with a pair of runs in the third, only to have the Mariners tie the game in the bottom of the third. Saginaw scored its final run in the fifth on an RBI single by Connor Charping that scored Gaosh Williams.

Mariners starter Connor Peplow lasted just 4 2/3 innings, allowing all four runs on six hits while striking out three and walking three.

Once Grand Lake went to the bullpen, however, that was all for Saginaw, who were held to just one walk and one hit batsman over the final 4 1/3 innings. Bradley Calhoun got the final out of the fifth and pitched a scoreless sixth. Jonah Jenkins (2-0) came on to pitch the seventh and retired all six batters he faced, four coming via strikeout, to earn a win. Tyler Luneke pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

"He had a few days off, so he was fresh tonight," Haecker said. "He only threw 19 pitches, so we'll bring him back tomorrow and he'll be ready to go. He was lights out. That's always big when you can bridge the gap between the (starting pitchers) and get to that back end of the bullpen where you have a Tyler Luneke who can really shut down a game."

With the bullpen in shutdown mode, the Mariners tied the game in the sixth without benefit of a hit. Steven Fitzsimmons walked and stole second. Blake Crossing grounded to second to move the runner to third, where Jaren Lovely lofted a fly to right to score the tying run.

After Sugar Beet reliever Kyler Seemann got through the seventh unscathed, RJ Williams greeted Seemann in the eighth with a single to right. After Fitzsimmons popped out, Crossing singled to center to put two on. Saginaw called on David Klug to get out of the jam. Klug promptly enticed Lovely to pop out to third for the second out. Chris Meyers was then hit by a pitch to load the bases for Evan Spry, who took three straight balls before Klug threw two straight strikes to make it a full count. Spry took ball four to bring home Williams for the go-ahead run. Jake McCaw added insurance with a two-run single to make it 7-4 before Klug got the final out.

"We had some opportunities earlier with two outs but just didn't get the clutch hit," said Haecker. "They did a good job hanging in there.

"Jake McCaw had a big two-out hit. When they walk in, it makes it easy. Gives you a breath of fresh air."

All that remained for Luneke to get the final three outs. After walking Max Trucks, Luneke struck out Ryan Missal, enticed Daniel Page to fly out to left and then ended the game by striking out Noah Marcoux.

"Our bullpen did what it was supposed to do and throw strikes," Haecker said. "They shut down the game for the most part. We threw a lot of strikes."

Crossing, Meyers, Logan Adams and Justin Diaz each had two hits for Grand Lake.

Mariners This Week: Grand Lake has a rare Monday game today as it completes the home-and-home series with Saginaw with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch at Cardinal Field on the campus of Saginaw Valley State University. The Mariners return to Montgomery Field for a two-game holiday series with the Muskegon Clippers with a 7:05 p.m. start on Tuesday and a 4:35 p.m. first pitch on Independence Day. Grand Lake makes its first trip to Canada on Thursday and Friday with games against the St. Clair Green Giants before returning home for a weekend series with the Xenia Scouts.

July will be a busy time at Montgomery as the Mariners play 14 of their final 23 games at home.