Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Thursday (7:05 PM vs. Lansing)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Thursday (7:05 PM vs. Lansing)

Published on July 2, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, July 2, 2026 l Game # 77 (11)

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l 7:05 pm

TV: Dayton's CW (26), MLB.TV, MLB+, Bally Sports Live Ohio

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Lansing Lugnuts (2-9, 31-44) at Dayton Dragons (5-5, 44-32)

RH Zane Taylor (5-4, 3.24) vs. RH Reynardo Cruz (3-3, 5.74)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Lansing Lugnuts (affiliate of the Athletics) in the third game of a six-game series at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. Season Series: Lansing 6, Dayton 5.

Dragons First Half Summary: Record: 39-27, East Division champs. By winning 8 of their last 9 games in the half including 2 elimination games on the final night, the Dragons overtook Great Lakes and Lake County to win the division by 1 game. The Dragons outscored their opponents 90-26 in those nine games. The Dragons previously won First Half division titles in 2001 and '07. 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)

Last Game: Wednesday: Dayton 9, Lansing 8 (11 innings). Peyton Stovall's double off the left field fence brought in Victor Acosta from second base in the bottom of the 11 th inning to break an 8-8 tie. Both games in the series have gone 11 innings. The Dragons tied the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on an RBI double by Yerlin Confidan, who had three hits and four RBI. Ryan McCrystal had a 4-hit night for the Dragons.

Changes this Week: The Dragons and Reds announced significant roster changes for the Dragons this week. Six Dayton players have been promoted to Double-A Chattanooga including catcher Alfredo Duno, first baseman Carter Graham, shortstop Carlos Sanchez, outfielder Kien Vu, starting pitcher Jose Montero, and outfielder Yerlin Confidan. Taking their places on the Dayton roster (listed here with their most recent teams) are third baseman Tyson Lewis (Daytona), catcher Ryan McCrystal (Chattanooga), utility man Johnny Ascanio (Chattanooga), shortstop Julio Carreras (Chattanooga), outfielder Marcus Smith (independent Kansas City Monarchs of American Association), and pitcher Luke Hayden (Daytona).

Graham Crackin': Carter Graham hit 11 home runs for the Dragons in the month of June, second highest total in any month in Dragons history (Austin Kearns hit 14 in July, 2000). Graham batted .354 for the month and drove in 27 runs. He appears to be the leading candidate for both MWL Player of the Month and Reds Minor League Player of the Month for June. Graham hit a home run Tuesday for Chattanooga in his first Double-A game, giving him 12 total in June.

Dragons Team and Player Trending Notes:

The Dragons 13-6 over their last 19 games (since June 9). They lead the MWL in runs scored (148) and home runs (41) in those 19 games.

The Dragons are 31-18 since May 5. Since May 5, the Dragons lead the MWL in home runs (85 in 49 games).

The Dragons led the Midwest League in the month of June in runs scored (170) and home runs (48).

The Dragons have hit 99 HR in 76 G, on pace to finish the year with 170 (club record: 152 in 2022).

The Dragons have scored 462 runs, on pace to finish the year with 796 (club record is 730 in 2000).

Dragons Batter of the Month for June: Carter Graham: .354, 11 HR, 27 RBI, .829 slugging pct, 1.319 OPS.

Dragons Pitcher of the Month for June: Jacob Edwards: 1-0, 0.68 ERA, 13.1 IP, 10 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 10 SO.

Dragons Batter Trending Notes:

Ryan McCrystal has gone 6 for 8 with 3 2B since returning to the Dragons Tuesday from Double-A. McCrystal was the Dragons Co-Player/Month for April.

Peyton Stovall in his last 23 G is batting .329 with 6 HR, 6 2B, 2 3B, and 20 RBI with an OPS of 1.139.

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

Friday, July 3 (7:05 pm): Lansing RH Mitch Myers (0-2, 14.29) at Dayton LH Kyle McCoy (3-1, 2.93)

Saturday, July 4 (7:05 pm): Lansing RH Nathan Dettmer (3-3, 3.53) at Dayton RH J.P. Ortiz (4-1, 5.46)

Sunday, July 5 (1:05 pm): Lansing RH Steven Echavarria at Dayton RH Ty Floyd

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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