Dayton Dragons Game Notes for Tuesday (Opening Night, 7:05 PM vs. Lake County)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons Game Notes for Tuesday (Opening Night, 7:05 PM vs. Lake County)

Published on April 7, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, April 7, 2026 l Game # 3

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l 7:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

TV: MLB App, MiLB TV, Bally Sports Live Ohio

Lake County Captains (1-2) at Dayton Dragons (1-1)

LH Franklin Gómez (no record) vs. RH Reynardo Cruz (no record)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Lake County Captains (affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians) in the Dragons 26 th Home Opening Night game. This is the start of a six-game series between the two clubs at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District.

Opening Series: The Dragons split two games in Lansing to begin their season, winning Thursday night 8-7, and falling to the Lugnuts on Friday, 5-1. Saturday's scheduled series finale was postponed by rain and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on April 29 at Lansing at 11:05 am. The Dragons batted .257 in the series, averaging 4.5 runs per game with 10 extra base hits (nine doubles, one home run) and a team ERA of 5.29. They had one error in the set.

Notes from Thursday's win: The Dragons trailed 6-2 before rallying to win, 8-7. In 2025, they overcame a four-run deficit to win only twice all season (in 2024, they had three wins after trailing by 4+ runs).The Dragons had 13 hits, matching their highest hits total in a season opener since MLB acquired Recordkeeping in 2005...With two runs in the first, the Dragons had their first multi-run first inning of a season since 2014...The Dragons seven doubles were their most in any game since they collected seven on 8/15/24...In 2025, the Dragons did not score eight runs in a game until the 10 th game of the season.

And a Look Ahead to 2026 for the Dragons: Julio Morillo re-joins the Dragons in his first year as manager after spending parts of the 2014 and '15 seasons with the Dragons as a player (catcher). The Dayton roster includes 18 players who spent all or part of the 2025 season with the Dragons, including the team's home run and RBI leader last season, John Michael Faile. The Dragons roster is headlined by elite prospect Alfredo Duno, the highest-rated prospect currently in the Reds farm system. Duno is listed as the #2 on the Reds prospect list by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, trailing only former Dragon Sal Stewart, who was the Reds opening day starting first baseman on March 26. More on Duno: Alfredo Duno was selected as both the Most Valuable Player and Best Major League Prospect in the Single-A Florida State League in 2025 while playing for the Daytona Tortugas. Duno led the league in eight of the most important categories including home runs (18), runs batted in (81), extra base hits (52), runs (78), doubles (32), on-base percentage (.430), slugging percentage (.518), and OPS (.948). He finished second in the league in batting average (.287) and base hits (112). Duno is the top-rated prospect ever to play for the Dragons at the catcher position, surpassing future Major League stars Devin Mesoraco and Tyler Stephenson, who were Reds top-10 prospects with the Dragons but not as high on the list as Duno. Duno is the first player to play for the Dragons after winning a league MVP award the previous since Chris Valaika played with Dayton in 2007 after winning the Pioneer League MVP in '06.

Starting pitcher J.P. Ortiz had the best ERA (2.81) in the Reds farm system in 2025 with Daytona among pitchers with at least 80 innings.

Outfielder Kien Vu is in his first full season of pro ball after completing his college career at Arizona State, where he led the led the PAC 12 in batting as a sophomore in 2024 at .413. His OPS over his three years at ASU was 1.062 with a career batting average of .351.

John Michael Faile is the NCAA Division II all-time career leader in both home runs (81) and RBI (337). Faile has hit 17 home runs in his Dragons career and would equal the team's career record of 30 this season if he matches his home run with the Dragons in 2025 (13).

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM)

Wednesday, April 8 (7:05 pm): Lake County RH Justin Campbell (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH J.P. Ortiz (no record)

Thursday, April 9 (7:05 pm): Lake County LH Jackson Humphries (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Luke Hayden (no record)

Friday, April 10 (7:05 pm): Lake County RH Braylon Doughty (0-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Cole Schoenwetter (1-0, 6.00)

Saturday, April 11 (1:05 pm): Lake County LH Rafe Schlesinger (1-0, 0.00) at Dayton RH Beau Blanchard (0-0, 9.64)

Sunday, April 12 (1:05 pm): Lake County LH Franklin Gomez at Dayton RH Nestor Lorant (0-1, 2.08)

How to Watch/Listen: Dragons radio broadcasts of all home and road games are also available on FOX Sports 980 WONE (980 AM), at daytondragons.com, and via the Dragons Mobile App. Additionally, the Dragons will televise 15 games locally over-the-air on Dayton's CW (Channel 26; Spectrum Cable channels 13 and 1013). First telecast is May 15. All 2026 home and road Dragons can be viewed free of charge on the Bally Sports Live app (look for Bally Live Ohio) or on the internet at Ballysportslive.com (click on Bally Sports Live Ohio or the MiLB Zone). All games are also available by subscription on the MLB App and the MiLB App. Games in Dayton will be Dragons productions; games on the road will be produced by the opposing team.

Dragons Ticket Information: daytondragons.com/tickets Dragons 2026 Schedule: milb.com/dayton/schedule

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