MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

Published on August 13, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, August 13, 2009 nGame # 116 (46)

Fifth Third Field Dayton, Ohio 7:00 p.m.

Radio: WING 1410 AM "ESPN Radio"

West Michigan Whitecaps (26-20, 69-47) at Dayton Dragons (23-22, 51-64)

RH Luke Putkonen (6-8, 3.66) vs. RH J.C. Sulbaran (3-2, 4.78)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the third game of a four-game series. Season Series: West Michigan 9, Dayton 5 (At Dayton: West Michigan 6, Dayton 4).

Dayton in This Series: 1-1 (Team Batting Average: .247; Team ERA: 3.86).

The Race: Dayton will qualify for the playoffs by finishing in the top two among the four teams battling for an Eastern Division 2nd Half playoff berth.

Club W-L GA/B (#1 2nd Half Seed) GA/B (#2 2nd Half Seed)

Great Lakes 25-21 --- ---

Dayton 23-22 -1.5 ---

South Bend 21-24 -3.5 -2.0

Lansing 18-27 -6.5 -5.0

Last Night: Dayton defeated West Michigan 5-4 in 12 innings. The Dragons led 3-0 after eight innings before the Whitecaps tied the game in the ninth. West Michigan scored one run in the top of the 12th to take a 4-3 lead, and the Dragons answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning without an out being recorded to win it. Josh Fellhauer's triple started the winning rally and after a pair of walks loaded the bases, Carlos Mendez hit a roller to short that was misplayed by West Michigan's Gustavo Nunez as two runs scored to end the game. Dayton starting pitcher Mark Serrano was brilliant over seven shutout innings, allowing just two hits and no walks with 10 strikeouts. Fellhauer had three hits for Dayton.

Today's Starting Pitcher: J.C. Sulbaran (pronounced SOOL-ber-wrong) makes his 17th professional start tonight for Dayton. His last start was Saturday at Lansing and he earned a win (5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO). Sulbaran threw one scoreless inning in the All-Star Futures Game in St. Louis and earned the save. Sulbaran started the season in extended spring training in Sarasota due to a blister problem on his right (pitching) hand. Sulbaran has pitched in some big international games. He appeared in two games for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started a game for the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing against Cuba. Sulbaran moved from the island of Curacao in the Caribbean to the Miami area with his family at age 16 to further baseball career. He was honored as the Miami-area pitcher of the year in 2008, going 11-0, 1.40. He fell to the 30th round of the 2008 draft due to his commitment to the University of Florida. He was rated by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in Reds organization prior to 2009 season.

Skipper: Todd Benzinger makes his professional baseball managerial debut in 2009. Benzinger enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career from 1987-1995 with the Reds, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers, and Giants. Todd is a former first baseman who recorded the final putout of the 1990 World Series with the Reds to complete their four-game sweep of the Oakland A's. Benzinger is a native of the Cincinnati area and currently resides in West Chester, Ohio. He has enjoyed a highly-successful career coaching girls' high school basketball since 1999.

Individual Notes

- Miguel Rojas is batting .377 in his last 34 games and is hitting .350 in the second half. Rojas led the MWL in July batting with a .385 average.

- Byron Wiley has reached base with a hit or walk in 30 straight games and 42 of his last 43. Over his last 46 games since June 14, he is batting .341 with 14 doubles, two triples, nine HR, and 42 RBI, raising his batting average from .211 to .282.

- Alex Oliveras is batting .378 over his last 10 games with 2 HR, 7 RBI, and 7 R.

- Carlos Mendez is batting .373 over his last 24 games, hitting safely in 23 of the 24.

- Kevyn Feiner is batting .385 over his last five games with seven doubles and seven RBI.

- Humberto Sosa has hit in six straight games, going 10 for 23, .435, with 1 HR and 5 RBI.

- Pitcher Mark Serrano has a current 20 and two-thirds innings scoreless streak, longest of the year for a Dayton pitcher.

Team Notes

- The Dragons have won seven of their last nine games. They are 16-8 over their last 24 games.

- Despite an overall record of 51-64, the Dragons are 42-39 since May 14th. They started the season by going 9-25.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .285 in the second half (45 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

- During the Dragons 16-8 stretch, they are batting .294 as a team and averaging 5.8 runs per game.

- After 12 games in August, the Dragons are first in the league in batting for the month at .305.

Team Pitching Notes

- During the Dragons 16-8 stretch, the team ERA is 3.42.

- The Dragons second half team ERA is 4.30. The first half ERA was 4.50.

- Dayton Starting Pitchers: Date Range W-L, ERA Team Record

Opening Night-May 15: 4-14, 5.87 9-25

May 16-June 12: 10-6, 2.75 15-12

June 12-July 17: 8-13, 5.66 11-19

July 18-present: 8-2, 3.72 16-8

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Friday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Chase Ware (1-0, 3.65) vs. West Michigan RH Brayan Villarreal (4-3, 1.82)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from August 13, 2009


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