Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday (8:05 EDT at Peoria)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Friday (8:05 EDT at Peoria)

Published on June 19, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, June 19, 2026 l Game # 67 (1)

Dozer Park l Peoria, Ill. l 8:05 pm (EDT)

TV: MLB.TV, MLB+, Bally Sports Live Ohio

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Dayton Dragons (0-0, 39-27) at Peoria Chiefs (0-0, 32-34)

RH Reynardo Cruz (2-2, 5.50) vs. RH Leonel Sequera (1-4, 8.59)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Peoria Chiefs (affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) in the first game of the Second Half season. This is also the fourth game of a six-game series. Season Series: Dayton 3, Peoria 0.

Dragons in the First Half: Record: 39-27, East Division champions. By winning 8 of their last 9 games including 2 elimination games on Thursday, the Dragons overtook Great Lakes and Lake County to win the first half title by one game. The last First Half division championship for the Dragons came in 2007.

Last Game: Thursday DH: Game 1: Dayton 3, Peoria 1. Game 2: Dayton 18, Peoria 1. As they won the first game, keyed by a first inning two-run home run by Peyton Stovall and four scoreless innings of relief by Jacob Edwards, the Dragons also benefitted from a critical Lake County loss in the first game of their doubleheader at Great Lakes, a requirement for the Dragons to win the division, and an element that left the Dragons fate in their own hands. In the second game, Kien Vu hit a first inning two-run home run, followed by a homer by Carter Graham on the very next pitch, the give the Dragons a quick lead. They eventually tied the club record by hitting six home runs. Jacob Friend hit two homers including a grand slam and tied the club record with eight RBI.

Dragons Team and Player Trending Notes:

As they won eight of their last nine games to close the first half and win the division title by one game, the Dragons outscored their opponents 90-26 in those nine games. In the current series with Peoria, they have outscored the Chiefs 29-4 while hitting 11 home runs in three games.

The Dragons have notched their third First Half division championship in franchise history (2000-'26), joining the 2001 and '07 Dragons teams. They also earned a First Half playoff berth in 2017 by finishing in second place (playoff formats prior to 2021 awarded playoff berths for second place).

The Dragons First Half winning percentage of .591 tied for second best in franchise history (44-26, .629 in 2007; 39-27, .591 in 2022).

The Dragons have hit 87 HR in 66 G, on pace to finish the year with 174 (club record: 152 in 2022).

The Dragons have hit 17 home runs over their last four games and 29 over their last nine games. Amazingly, the Dragons have hit grand slams in four of their last six games.

The Dragons have scored 404 runs, on pace to finish the year with 808 (club record is 730 in 2000).

-- Carter Graham has broken the Dragons club record for highest batting average in a First Half season at .330. Graham has also broken the club record for most grand slam home runs in a season with three. For the year, Graham has three 2-homer games and five games with at least 5 RBI. He tied the club record on May 28 for most RBI in a game with 8 (a record that was also tied on June 18 (Game 2) by Jacob Friend. Graham has four 4-hit games in 2026.

-- Since May 1, Carter Graham leads the MWL in RBI (50-12 more than any other player), extra base hits (26), and hits (55). Since 5/1, he is batting .357 (3rd in MWL), 14 HR (2nd in MWL), 1.195 OPS (2nd in MWL). In his last 18 G, Graham has 10 HR, 32 RBI, and a .386 batting average (27 for 70). Graham has 6 HR in his last 9 G.

-- Carter Graham for the full season is among the MWL leaders in batting avg. (3rd), home runs (tied-2nd), RBI (tied-1st), OPS (2nd), and slugging pct (2nd).

-- Alfredo Duno for the full season is among the MWL leaders in home runs (tied-2nd), RBI (10th), and extra base hits (tied-6th).

-- Carlos Sanchez for the full season is among the MWL leaders in hits (1 st), runs (2 nd), batting average (tied-9 th), extra base hits (9 th), and doubles (tied-4th).

-- Kien Vu for the year is among the MWL leaders in runs (3 rd), hits (4 th), stolen bases (5 th), extra base hits (tied-4 th), triples (tied-2 nd), and OPS (9 th).

--Kien Vu is the Dragons Batter of the Week (week of June 9-14). In 6 games, Vu batted .391 with 3 home runs, 6 RBI, 5 stolen bases (including a game-winning steal of home) with an OPS of 1.403. Jose Montero is the Dragons Pitcher of the Week. He went 2-0 and allowed only one run in 11 innings.

Dragons Hottest Hitters:

Carter Graham since 5/1 (42 G) is batting .357, 14 HR, 12 2B, and 50 RBI with a 1.195 OPS, raising his batting average from .233 to .330.

Peyton Stovall in his last 14 G is batting .370 with 5 HR, 5 2B, 2 3B, and 16 RBI with an OPS of 1.317.

Kien Vu in his last 22 G is batting .342 with an on-base pct of .485. During this streak he has 5 HR, 5 2B, 4 3B, 16 BB, and 6 HBP and an OPS of 1.181.

Alfredo Duno in his last 36 games is batting .296, 13 HR, 9 2B, 32 RBI, 1.035 OPS...2 grand slams in 3 G last weekend...3 HR, 13 RBI in series vs FW.

Alfredo Alcantara over his last 8 G is batting .367, 4 HR, 3 2B, 11 RBI, 1.308 OPS.

Yerlin Confidan in his last 11 G is batting .308, 3 HR, after going 2 for his previous 45. Prior to that, he hit .350 (35 for 100) over the previous 26 G.

Jacob Friend in his last 5 G is batting .357, 3 HR, 1 2B, 11 RBI, 7 BB. Between Dayton and Daytona, Friend has 14 HR (5 th in Reds org), 48 RBI (3 rd in org.).

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

Saturday, June 20 (8:05 pm): Dayton RH Jose Montero (3-0, 2.87) at Peoria RH Jacob Odle (1-1, 5.40)

Sunday, June 21 (3:05 pm): Dayton LH Kyle McCoy (3-1, 2.42) at Peoria RH Blake Aita (2-2, 3.56)

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). 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 June 19, 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