MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Thursday

Published on June 23, 2022 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, June 23, 2022 l Game # 66

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio

7:05 p.m. l Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Lake County Captains (34-31) at Dayton Dragons (39-26)

RH Mason Hickman (1-4, 5.14) vs. RH Joe Boyle (3-1, 0.78)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Lake County Captains (affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians) at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. Tonight is the fourth game of a seven-game series and the final game of the first half season.

Dragons in the Standings: Great Lakes clinched the first half East Division title last night. With one game to play in the first half season, Dayton is in second place, one game behind Great Lakes. Since Great Lakes would win the tie-breaker, the Dragons have been mathematically eliminated from contention.

What Happened? Entering a doubleheader on June 9, the Dragons were 36-15 (best record in franchise history after 51 games) and held a lead of eight and one-half games over second place Great Lakes with 15 to play. At the time, Dayton had not lost more than two consecutive games all season. How did they lose that lead?

The Dragons went 3-11 over the next 14 games while Great Lakes went 12-1 over the same period, a difference of nine and one-half games...The Dragons averaged 3.6 runs per game over that period (last in the league) while Great Lakes averaged 5.7 (first in the league)...Dragons hitters struck out 164 times during that period (most in Minor League Baseball by 16; most in the MWL by 39)...In their 11 losses, the Dragons batted .127 (13 for 102) with men in scoring position...Meanwhile, the Dragons team ERA was 5.21 during that span (next to last in the league) while Great Lakes was 2.95 (first)...Dragons pitchers allowed 72 walks during that span (fourth most in Minor League Baseball, most in the MWL by 15).

What's Next: The 66-game second half begins on Friday night. The Dragons could qualify for the playoffs in one of two ways: 1) By winning the second half East Division title; 2) By finishing with the next best full-season record in the East Division (behind Great Lakes) should Great Lakes win the second half division title. If the same team wins both halves, the team with the next best full-season record qualifies as the second half representative.

Last Game: Wednesday: Game 1: Dragons 4, Lake County 3 (8 innings). Game 2: Lake County 3, Dayton 0. Nick Quintana's two-out, walk-off single brought in the winning run from third base in the eighth inning in game one. The Dragons were shutout on three hits in the second game, going 0 for 6 with men in scoring position.

Player Notes

Elly De La Cruz (seventh youngest position player in the league with at least 100 AB) over his last 25 games is batting .327 with seven home runs and 20 RBI. De La Cruz is first in the MWL slugging percentage (.571), second in extra base hits (31), tied for second in RBI (43), fourth in home runs (13).

Joe Boyle has an earned run average of 0.78 and opponent's batting average of .089 on the year, but he is six innings short of having the minimum number of innings to qualify for the league lead.

Connor Phillips is first in the MWL in strikeouts with 90 and second in opponent batting average (.181). Since April 28, Phillips has made nine starts, posting a 2.34 ERA (50 IP, 13 ER, 20 BB, 69 SO).

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

Friday, June 24 (7:05 p.m.): Lake County LH Rodney Boone (0-1, 6.23) at Dayton RH Christian Roa (1-3, 5.48)

Saturday, June 25 (7:05 p.m.): Lake County LH Doug Nikhazy (1-3, 3.38) at Dayton RH James Proctor (4-3, 4.18)

Sunday, June 26 (1:05 p.m.): Lake County RH Tommy Mace (0-2, 5.40) at Dayton TBA

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from June 23, 2022


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