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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Big Innings Lift Lugnuts over Dragons

May 16, 2018 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Lansing, Mich.-The Lansing Lugnuts broke open a tie game with back-to-back five-run innings on the way to defeating the Dayton Dragons 12-2 on Wednesday night. The Lugnuts have won the first three games of the four-game set that will conclude Thursday evening.

The Dragons took a quick lead when Jeter Downs opened the game with a home run to left field. It was Downs' fifth homer of the year and his second as the first batter of the game. Lansing responded in the second when Brock Lundquist belted a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, to make it 2-1.

The Dragons tied the game in the fifth inning when Leandro Santana walked, raced around to third on Downs' double, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-2.

But the Lugnuts exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fifth, and they added five more in the sixth to extend their lead to 12-2. Lugnuts infielder Kevin Smith, who has been the league's best hitter this season, drove in five of the 10 runs that Lansing scored over their two big innings as he belted a two-run home run and added a three-run double. Smith increased his league-leading RBI total to 38.

Dragons starting pitcher Packy Naughton (3-3) had his roughest outing of the year. He worked four and one-third innings, allowing seven runs on five hits with two walks and one strikeout to suffer the loss.

The Dragons finished the night with seven hits. Downs was 2 for 4 with a homer and double. Miles Gordon went 2 for 2 with a walk and is 6 for 11 in the series. John Sansone had one hit to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games. Michael Beltre went 0 for 3 but drew a walk to extend his on-base streak to 30 straight games, the longest active on-base streak in the league.

Notes: The loss was the sixth in a row for the Dragons while Lansing won for the eighth straight time...Lansing began the night with 238 runs on the year, the only Midwest League team to top the 200 mark.

In the Standings: The Dragons fell back to the .500 mark at 18-18. They are in fourth place, six and one-half games behind first place Lansing and four games behind second place Bowling Green, the wildcard leader, in the Midwest League East Division.

Up Next: The Dragons close out the series and the road trip in Lansing on Thursday night at 7:05. Wendolyn Bautista (2-1, 6.06) will start for Dayton against Lansing's Graham Spraker (0-1, 2.51).

The Dragons next home date is Friday, May 18 when they host the Great Lakes Loons in a doubleheader at Fifth Third Field. The first game will start at 7:00 p.m. Both games will be seven-inning games. Hunter Greene will start game one on Friday for the Dragons while Tyler Mondile will be the second game starter.

Game Broadcast: All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE and on the internet at wone.com. Games are also available on the Dayton Dragons mobile app.

For Dragons 2018 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.

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Midwest League Stories from May 16, 2018


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