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Dayton Dragons

Great Starting Pitching Gives Dragons Double Header Sweep

May 18, 2006 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, OH- The Dayton Dragons (22-19) love double headers. After being rained out Wednesday night, the Dragons used strong starting pitching from Johnny Cueto and Zach Ward to sweep the double header Thursday with a 5-0 shutout win in game one and a 4-3 victory in game two over the Fort Wayne Wizards (20-17). With the two victories, Dayton improves to 9-1 in five double headers this season, all during the month of May.

The start of game one was delayed 18 minutes due to some lingering rain, but when the tarp was pulled off the field, Johnny Cueto (WP, 4-1) was ready to go. Cueto was making his first start since recording the first ever Dragons' no-hitter against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on May 13th at Fox Cities Stadium. Cueto nearly duplicated the feat in front of 8,622 fans at Fifth Third Field. The only blemish on Cueto's final line for the night was a two-out double allowed to Will Venable in the fourth inning. Cueto picked up his second consecutive complete game shutout, allowing just one hit with no walks, and striking out seven. Even an eight minute rain delay in the middle of the game couldn't slow Cueto down.

On the other side of things, Dayton's offense wasn't producing much off of Fort Wayne starter Josh Geer (LP, 3-1). The Dragons were held scoreless until Jay Bruce drilled a 0-2 pitch into the lawn section in right field for his ninth home run of the year to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead. It would stay that way until the 6th when Jay Bruce picked up two more RBIs on a triple down the right field line that scored Mike Griffin and Mike DeJesus. Bobby Mosby followed with an RBI double, and eventually scored on a single from Habelito Hernandez to put the score at 5-0 in favor of the Miami's Valley team.

In game two, another strong starting pitching performance led the Dragons to the victory. Zach Ward (WP, 3-0) held the Wizards at bay allowing just two hits and striking out a season-high nine over 5.2 innings.

The Dragons took the lead in the bottom of the fourth off Fort Wayne starter Gregory Burke (LP, 0-1). Habelito Hernandez singled with one out, and advanced to third on the two out single by Gerardo Cabrera. That set the stage for J.D. Reininger to double off the left field wall, scoring his two teammates to give Dayton a 2-0 lead. Reininger was gunned down at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple to end the threat. Dayton added a run in the 5th off Fort Wayne reliever Alfredo Fernandez (ND). Yoni Lasso led off the inning with a double to left, marking his first hit as a Dragon. After Griffin popped up to second, DeJesus picked up the RBI on a single to left and Dayton led 3-0.

Fort Wayne would finally crack the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. Zach Ward allowed a leadoff single to Abraham Aguilar. After getting two outs, Ward walked Mike Sansoe to put runners at first and second. Blake Hendley (SV, 8) entered the game in relief, and allowed back to back RBI singles to Venable and Kyle Blanks to cut the Dragons lead to 3-2. Hendley retired Seth Johnston on a fielder's choice to end the threat.

The Dragons picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Hernandez led off with a triple, then scored when Craig Tatum's grounder got under the glove of first baseman Darryl Jones. The run would prove crucial, as Fort Wayne rallied for a run in the top of the 7th on an RBI groundout from pinch hitter Josh Alley to cut the lead to 4-3. Hendley struck out Mike Baxter to end the game, and preserve the double header sweep for the Dragons.

Dayton will look for another strong pitching performance when they close out the four game series with the Fort Wayne Wizards at Fifth Third Field on Friday night at 7:00 PM. LHP Philippe Valiquette (1-2, 6.48 ERA) will start for the Dragons while Fort Wayne counters with LHP Fabian Jimenez (3-2, 2.78 ERA). 1410 ESPN Radio WING AM will broadcast the game live beginning with the Dragons pre game show at 6:30 PM. All Dragons games in 2006 can be heard on the internet via Broadcast Monsters.com at www.daytondragons.com.

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