LocalSportsJournal.com
The West Michigan Whitecaps dropped the final game of the 2016 regular season in a 5-1 loss to the Great Lakes Loons in Midland on Monday afternoon. 
Whitecaps pitcher Sandy Baez tossed six innings of shutout baseball, allowing just one hit and striking out seven batters before giving way to the bullpen.
In the fifth, Franklin Navarro lined an 0-1 fastball over the left field fence for a home run, his second of the season, to give West Michigan a 1-0 lead. In the eighth, the Loons rallied for five runs against the Whitecaps bullpen to seal the victory.
West Michigan finished the regular season with a 71-65 overall record and a 32-37 mark in the second half standings.
The Whitecaps will begin the 2016 Midwest League playoffs with a three-game series against the South Bend Cubs. The first game will be Wednesday at Fifth Third Ballpark in Comstock Park at 6:35 p.m.
