Published: May 09, 2009 12:27 am      

Lorin, Hann pitch shutout

LumberKings silence potent Whitecaps bats

COMSTOCK PARK, Mich. — The West Michigan Whitecaps’ hitting arsenal was no match for right-handers Brett Lorin and Cheyne Hann of the Clinton LumberKings on Friday. The Whitecaps, who entered the contest third in the league in hitting, scored no runs during a 5-0 setback against the LumberKings.

Lorin scattered four hits over seven innings and Hann allowed one walk over the final two frames.

Lorin (3-0) got into only one jam all night, yielding a leadoff single to Brandon Douglas in the seventh inning.

Two batters later, Clinton’s Ronnie Bourquin ripped a double off the wall in left to put runners at second and third.

Lorin got Billy Nowlin to fly out to left and Chao-Ting Tang to line out to center.

The LumberKings scored in bunches, plating two runs off Whitecaps’ right-hander Luke Petkonen in the third. Denny Almonte extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games with a one-out double and Kris Sanchez drew a walk. Nate Tenbrink snapped an 0-for-9 slump with an RBI single, plating Almonte. Israel Nunez followed with a flare into shallow left, sending Sanchez home.

Almonte started another two-run outburst in the fifth. He opened the frame with an opposite-field double to the left-field corner, then scored two batters later on Sanchez’s single. Tenbrink plated Sanchez with a double just inside the right-field line, making it a 4-0 game.

Jake Shaffer, who homered in his first at-bat as a LumberKing the previous night, capped the scoring with another solo blast. His shot cleared the picnic pavilion in deep right, making it a 5-0 lead.

That was all the Kings would need as Hann struck out two of the seven men he faced to preserve the shutout.

Almonte, Sanchez and Tenbrink all finished with 2-for-4 games. Tenbrink posted his third two-RBI game of the season.

The LumberKings (17-10) and Whitecaps (19-8) continue the series tonight at Fifth Third Ballpark, starting at 6 p.m.