MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Bullpen Blanks Burlington For Five Innings as Dayton Wins 6-3

Published on May 22, 2004 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Burlington, IA – After the Dayton Dragons (17-25) took a 5-3 lead over the Burlington Bees (14-28) with two runs in the top of the fourth inning, Dayton Manager Alonzo Powell turned the game over to his bullpen, which may have proved to be his best move on Saturday night. Josh Thigpen (W, 3-3) and Carlos Guevara (S, 3) combined to shut out the Bees on one hit for 5.0 innings as the Dragons won the third game of the four game series by a 6-3 score.

The Dragons staked Rainer Feliz (ND) to a lead before the right hander ever threw a pitch in his first start of the season. Will Hudson got the first inning rally started when Burlington starter Ambiorix Burgos (L, 0-5) hit the Dayton second baseman with a pitch. On a hit and run play, Walter Olmstead's base hit moved Hudson to third and the Dragons were in business for Ryan Fry. The team leader in homers and RBI came through with a base hit to right that scored Hudson and the Dragons had a 1-0 lead. With two down, Kyle Smith came through with a double down the line in left that caught chalk and scored both runners for a 3-0 lead.

Burgos watched his teammates get him back to even with a three run second inning off Feliz. With one down, the Dayton right hander struggled with control walking back-to-back Burlington batters. A single by Kila Kaaihue loaded the bases for Mike Gaffney. Feliz got the first run home by hitting Gaffney with a pitch and the lead was cut to 3-1. Brian McFall got the second run of the inning home on a SAC fly and the Bees were within one. Chris Lubanski's bloop single to center scored Kila Kaaihue to tie the game at 3-3.

Dayton re-took the lead off Burgos in the top of the fourth inning that featured a spectacular home plate collision between Jarrod Schmidt and Luis Gonzalez. Ben Himes led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. Schmidt got Himes home to snap the 3-3 tie with a single up the middle into center field. With one down and Schmidt on first, Evan Conley doubled into the right field corner. Powell waived Schmidt around third as he tried to score all the way from first. Schmidt and the Bees catcher had a violent collision at the plate as the ball; Schmidt and Gonzalez all arrived at the same time. The ball was jarred free from the catcher's glove and Schmidt scrambled back to the plate to touch safely and give the Dragons a 5-3 lead.

After both starters were lifted after the fourth inning, the bullpens took over and the offense disappeared. Steve Bray (ND) of the Bees held the Dragons scoreless fifth, sixth and seventh innings before giving up a homer to Ben Himes to lead off the eighth, giving Dayton the 6-3 lead. Dragons reliever Thigpen (W, 3-3) made the lead stand up shutting out the Bees for four innings and not allowing a hit. The right hander struck out two and walked one.

After Thigpen departed following the eighth, Carlos Guevara (S, 3) allowed the first Burlington hit since the fourth inning on a lead off single, but struck out two including Kaaihue for the final out of the game.

The Dragons wrap up the four game series with the Burlington Bees at 3:00 PM Sunday afternoon from Community Field in Burlington, Iowa. 1410 ESPN Radio WING AM will carry the game live with the pre game show beginning at 2:30 PM. LHP Tyler Pelland is the slated starter for the Dragons, while Burlington will counter with RHP Greg Atencio.

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Midwest League Stories from May 22, 2004


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