MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday (7:10 PM Start)

Published on September 8, 2023 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, Sept. 8, 2023lGame # 64 (130)

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l7:10 p.m.

TV: Dayton's CW (26) lRadio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Fort Wayne TinCaps (35-28, 67-62) at Dayton Dragons (33-30, 66-63)

RH Dylan Lesko (1-1, 5.63) vs. RH Hunter Parks (3-6, 3.93)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the fourth game of a six-game series. Season Series: Fort Wayne 12, Dayton 9 (at Day Air Ballpark: Fort Wayne 5, Dayton 4).

Playoff Race: The Dragons are in fourth place, two games behind Fort Wayne and two and one-half game behind West Michigan in the East Division with three games to play. To reach the playoffs, the Dragons must win the division title in the second half.

What will it take for the Dragons to qualify for post-season play? 1) The Dragons must win all three of their remaining games; 2) West Michigan must lose at least two of their three remaining games (against Great Lakes); 3) Lake County must lose at least one of their three remaining games (against Lansing).

Last Game: Thursday: Dayton 4, Fort Wayne 3. Sal Stewart belted a game-ending home run to break a 3-3 tie with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a Dayton comeback. The Dragons fell behind 3-0 but battled back, getting a solo homer by Trey Faltine to start the effort. Dayton relievers Jacob Heatherly and Donovan Benoit combined for four scoreless innings as the team rallied. Stewart also had a double.

Current Series (Sept. 5-10 vs. Fort Wayne): Dayton is 2-1 in the series.

Dayton team statistics in the series: .291 batting average; 7.7 runs/game; 8 home runs; 1 stolen base; 6.33 ERA; 1 error.

Team Notes

If the Dragons win at least one of their three remaining games, they will finish the year with a winning record for the third straight year. The Dragons have had a winning record in three consecutive years once in team history (2000-02, their first three years).

The Dragons have hit 19 home runs in their last nine games, the most of any team in all Minor League Baseball (120 teams) over that time period (August 29-Sept. 7).

Player Notes

Austin Hendrick now ranks tied for second on the Dragons career home run list with 28. The club record is 30 by Chris Williamson, who played for the Dragons in 2000-02. Williamson's top season was 2002 when he hit 22. Hendrick has 14 home runs for the Dragons in 2023 after hitting 14 in 2022. Hendrick is tied with Randy Ruiz and Samone Peters with 28. No player who had played for the Dragons after 2002 had hit more than 26 in his Dragons career prior to Hendrick.

Edwin Arroyo over his last 46 games (since July 14) is batting .293 with 24 extra base hits.

Justice Thompson over his last 10 games is batting .343 (12 for 35) with one home run.

Ruben Ibarra over his last 20 games is batting .311 with seven home runs and 20 RBI.

Carlos Jorge over his last eight games is batting .344 with three home runs and 11 RBI.

Sal Stewart has hit safely in five straight games, batting .455 (10 for 22) with two home runs and three doubles.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)

Saturday, Sept. 9 (7:05 pm): Fort Wayne LH Austin Krob (4-3, 3.21) at Dayton RH Carson Rudd (5-7, 4.72)

Sunday, Sept. 10 (1:10 pm): Fort Wayne RH Victor Lizarraga (4-7, 4.36) at Dayton RH Johnathan Harmon (no record) TV: Dayton's CW (26)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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



Midwest League Stories from September 8, 2023


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