Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Thursday (6:05 PM DH at Peoria)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Thursday (6:05 PM DH at Peoria)

Published on June 18, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, June 18, 2026 l Games # 65-66

Dozer Park l Peoria, Ill. l 6:00 pm (EDT) DH

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

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Dayton Dragons (37-27) at Peoria Chiefs (32-32)-DH (7/7)

RH David Lorduy (0-0, 4.61) & RH Ovis Portes (1-3, 9.67) vs. RH Ty Van Dyke (1-1, 4.96) & RH Tanner Franklin (2-1, 4.40)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Peoria Chiefs (affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals) in a make-up doubleheader. These are the second and third games of a six-game series, and the final two games of the First Half season. Season Series: Dayton 1, Peoria 0.

Dragons in the Standings: Record: 37-27, trailing Lake County by .003 percentage points in the East Division with 2 to play in the first half.

Last Game: Wednesday: Postponed, rain. Tuesday: Dayton 8, Peoria 2. Carter Graham hit two home runs including a grand slam and drove in six runs and Yerlin Confidan also added two home runs. Starting pitcher Kyle McCoy fired six scoreless innings. The Dragons won their sixth game in the last seven.

Dragons Team and Player Trending Notes:

Entering the final day of the First Half season, the Dragons trail Lake County by .003 percentage points, while Great Lakes is one game behind. All three teams play doubleheaders tonight (Lake County and Great Lakes meet in Midland, Michigan).

The Dragons would win the First Half division title by sweeping tonight's doubleheader, along with at least one loss by Lake County. One loss tonight by the Dragons would eliminate them from contention. A Lake County doubleheader sweep over Great Lakes would also eliminate the Dragons.

The Dragons have not won a First Half division title since 2007.

The Dragons have hit 80 HR in 64 G, on pace to finish the year with 165 (club record: 152 in 2022).

The Dragons have hit 10 home runs over their last two games and 22 over their last seven games. They have hit grand slams in three of their last four games.

The Dragons have scored 383 runs, on pace to finish the year with 790 (club record is 730 in 2000).

Dragons Hottest Hitters:

Carter Graham since 5/1 (40 G) is batting .361, 13 HR, 12 2B, and 48 RBI with a 1.196 OPS, raising his batting average from .233 to .332.

Peyton Stovall in his last 12 G is batting .410 with 4 HR, 5 2B, 2 3B, and 13 RBI with an OPS of 1.416.

Alfredo Duno in his last 34 games is batting .289, 13 HR, 7 2B, 32 RBI, 1.022 OPS...2 grand slams in 3 G over the weekend...3 HR, 13 RBI in series vs FW.

Kien Vu in his last 20 G is batting .333 with an on-base pct of .478. During this streak he has 4 HR, 4 2B, 4 3B, 14 BB, and 6 HBP and an OPS of 1.145.

Alfredo Alcantara is 8 for 24 (.333), 3 HR, 3 2B, 10 RBI in his last 6 G.

--With two games to play in the first half, Carter Graham is on pace to break the club record for highest batting average in a First Half season at .332.

--On Tuesday, Carter Graham hit his third grand slam home run of the season, breaking the club record of two set by Jeremiah Piepkorn in 2005; Denis Phipps in 2007; Beau Amaral in 2013; Jack Rogers in 2023; and Alfredo Duno in 2026.

--Since May 1, Carter Graham leads the MWL in RBI (48), extra base hits (25), and hits (54). Since 5/1, he is batting .361 (2nd in MWL), 13 HR (tied-2nd in MWL), 1.196 OPS (2nd in MWL). In his last 17 G, Graham has 9 HR, 30 RBI, and a .397 batting average (25 for 63). Graham has 5 HR in his last 7 G.

-- Carter Graham for the full season is among the MWL leaders in batting avg. (2nd), home runs (tied-4 th), 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 (8th), extra base hits (tied-8th), and slugging pct (10th).

-- Carlos Sanchez for the full season is among the MWL leaders in hits (1 st), runs (2 nd), batting average (8 th), extra base hits (tied-8 th), and doubles (tied-3rd).

-- Kien Vu for the year is among the MWL leaders in runs (3 rd), hits (5 th), stolen bases (tied-5 th), extra base hits (tied-5 th), triples (tied-2 nd), and OPS (10 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.

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

Start of Second Half Season

Friday, June 19 (8:05 pm): Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz (2-2, 5.50) at Peoria RH Leonel Sequera (1-4, 8.59)

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

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Midwest League Stories from June 18, 2026


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