Dayton Dragons GameDay for Friday, April 3 (At Lansing, 6:05 PM)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay for Friday, April 3 (At Lansing, 6:05 PM)

Published on April 3, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, April 3, 2026 l Game #2

Jackson Field l Lansing, Mich. l 6:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

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

Dayton Dragons (1-0) at Lansing Lugnuts (0-1)

RH Nestor Lorant at Lansing RH Zane Taylor

REMINDER: DRAGONS "OPENING NIGHT" AT DAY AIR BALLPARK IN THE HEART OF THE WATER STREET DISTRICT IS TUESDAY, APRIL 7 AT 7:05 PM VS. THE LAKE COUNTY CAPTAINS. GO TO DAYTONDRAGONS.COM/TICKETS

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Lansing Lugnuts (affiliate of the Athletics) in the second game of the 2026 Midwest League season for both teams. This is game two of a three-game series.

Today's complete Game Notes and Stats packets are attached. For starting lineups, roster, Media Guide, and more, go to the Dragons Digital Pressbox at www.daytondragons.com/digitalpressbox

Last Night: Dayton 8, Lansing 7. Esmith Pineda blasted a tie-breaking two-run home run in the eighth inning as the Dragons battled back from a four-run deficit to win. Dayton had 13 hits including seven doubles (one more than their 2025 season high). Five consecutive hitters in the Dayton order finished with two hits, including Alfredo Duno (2 doubles, 3 RBI) and Ryan McCrystal (2 RBI). Cody Adcock pitched out of a jam in the ninth for the save.

Additional notes from Thursday: With 13 hits, the Dragons matched 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 overcame a four-run deficit to win only twice all year (in 2024, they had only three wins after trailing by 4+ runs).

A Look 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)

Saturday, April 4 (1:05 pm): Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz at Lansing RH Tzu-Chen Sha

Tuesday, April 7 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton J.P. Ortiz

Wednesday, April 8 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton RH Luke Hayden

Thursday, April 9 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton RH Cole Schoenwetter

Friday, April 10 (7:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton RH Beau Blanchard

Saturday, April 11 (1:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton RH Nestor Lorant

Sunday, April 12 (1:05 pm): Lake County TBA at Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz

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

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from April 3, 2026


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central