Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday (6:35 PM at West Michigan)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday (6:35 PM at West Michigan)

Published on May 8, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, May 8, 2026 l Game # 31

LMCU Ballpark l Grand Rapids, Mich. l 6:35 pm

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

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

Dayton Dragons (16-14) at West Michigan Whitecaps (12-18)

RH Nestor Lorant (1-2, 2.66) vs. RH Rayner Castillo (0-3, 7.11)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) battle the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the fourth game of a six-game series. Season Series: Dayton 3, West Michigan 0.

Streaks: Dayton has won three straight games and they are 6-4 on the current 13-game road trip. West Michigan, the defending MWL champions, have lost 11 straight games, one short of their franchise record.

Dragons in the Standings: W-L Record: 16-14, second place in MWL East Division, 3 games behind first place Great Lakes.

Last Game: Thursday: Dayton 8, West Michigan 5. The Dragons hit three home runs including three-run homers by Ariel Almonte and Kien Vu to power to their third straight win. Beau Blanchard tossed five near-perfect innings of relief, retiring 14 in a row at one point. Alfredo Alcantara had two hits including a solo home run.

Current Series at West Michigan (5/5-5/10): Dayton 3, West Michigan 0. The Dragons have outscored the Whitecaps 17-12. Dayton is batting .257 as a team (.222 with runners in scoring position). They have hit five home runs with one stolen base, a team ERA of 4.00, and committed 1 error.

2026 Team Notes:

The Dragons have won three straight games to match their longest winning streak of the year (won three straight over Lake County April 9-11). They are two games over .500 for the first time this season.

The Dragons have hit home runs in four straight games for the first time since July 1-4, 2025. They have hit eight homers in those four games. The Dragons have hit 14 home runs in their last 14 games after hitting five in their first 16 games.

Since the start of the current road trip on April 28, the Dragons are tied for the MWL lead in extra base hits with 33. The Dragons are batting .275 on the road trip (95 for 346), the third highest team average in the MWL during that span, and their .800 OPS is also third in the league since April 28 (10 G).

2026 Player Notes

Kien Vu and Ariel Almonte have hit home runs in their last two game appearances. Since 2005, 12 Dragons players have hit homers in three straight games including Almonte last season and John Michael Faile in 2024. In 2000, Dragons outfielder Austin Kearns homered in eight straight.

Tonight's Dragons starting pitcher Nestor Lorant has a scoreless streak of 12.2 innings. Lorant over his last 3 G: 14.2 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 6 BB, 21 SO.

Victor Diaz has not allowed an earned run in his last six games (10.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 7 BB, 14 SO, 3 Sv, 1-0).

Alfredo Duno on the road trip: 7 G, batting .345 (10 for 29), 3 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI. Prior to the start of the trip, he was 4 for his last 36 in 10 games. Carter Graham over his last five games is batting .350 (7 for 20) with 2 HR, 2 2B, and 3 RBI with a slugging percentage of .750.

Yerlin Confidan in his last 12 games is batting .317 (13 for 41) with 1 HR, 4 2B, 8 RBI.

Esmith Pineda in his last 12 games is batting .342 (13 for 38). For the year, he is hitting .348 with runners in scoring position (8 for 23).

Kien Vu in his last 13 games is batting .294 (15 for 51) with 4 HR, 3 2B, 1 3B, 12 RBI, 12 R, 4 SB, and an OPS of 1.017.

Alfredo Alcantara in his last 11 games is batting .325 (13 for 40) with 2 HR and a .913 OPS.

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

Saturday, May 9 (2:00 pm): Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz (0-1, 6.87) at West Michigan LH Gabriel Reyes (0-2, 5.06)

Sunday, May 10 (2:00 pm): Dayton RH J.P. Ortiz (3-1, 5.11) at West Michigan RH Carlos Marcano (0-1, 3.06)

Next Home Series: vs. Lake County (6 games), May 12-17

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

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