Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Tuesday (6:35 PM at West Michigan)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Tuesday (6:35 PM at West Michigan)

Published on May 5, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, May 5, 2026 l Game # 28

LMCU Ballpark l Grand Rapids, Mich. l 6:35 pm

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

TV: MLB App, MiLB TV, Bally Sports Live Ohio

Dayton Dragons (13-14) at West Michigan Whitecaps (12-15)

RH J.P. Ortiz (2-1, 5.30) vs. RH Hayden Minton (0-1, 5.03)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) battle the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the first game of a six-game series. Season Series: Tonight is the first meeting between the two clubs.

Dragons in the East Division Standings: W-L Record: 13-14. Tied for second place (with Lake County), 4 games behind first place Great Lakes.

Last Game: Sunday: Lansing 15, Dayton 7. Each team hit three home runs. Lansing trailed the Dragons 7-5 in the middle of the 4 th inning but outscored Dayton 10-0 over rest of the game to win the series, four games to three. Carter Graham had the biggest game of the young season by a Dayton player, going 4 for 4 with a home run, two doubles, and a walk. Graham and Ariel Almonte had back-to-back homers. Yerlin Confidan also had a home run and double for Dayton as the Dragons collected 13 hits but allowed 14 hits, 10 walks, and had four errors.

Last Series at Lansing (4/28-5/3): Lansing 4, Dayton 3. The Lugnuts outscored the Dragons 50-38 in the seven games. Dayton batted .282 as a team (.284 with runners in scoring position). They hit four home runs. They stole six bases, had a team ERA of 6.19, and committed 12 errors in the seven games.

2026 Team Notes:

The Dragons split their first four series of the season (1-1 at Lansing; 3-3 vs. Lake County; 3-3 at Great Lakes; 3-3 vs. South Bend), then lost their most recent series at Lansing April 28-May 3, 4 games to 3.

The Dragons hit .284 with runners in scoring position in the last series at Lansing after hitting under .200 with RISP in each of the previous two sets (.197 at Great Lakes; .185 vs. South Bend).

The Dragons hit .282 in the series at Lansing, by far their highest batting average in a series this season. Their previous high in 2026 was .243 vs. South Bend.

The Dragons had 22 extra base hits in the first seven games at Lansing. Their previous high in a series this season was 13 vs. South Bend (6-game series).

2026 Player Notes

Carter Graham is the Dragons Batter of the Week for April 28-May 3 (series at Lansing). Graham hit .450 (9 for 20) for the week with one home run, three doubles, and an OPS of 1.272. The Pitcher of the Week is Nestor Lorant for the second straight week. He made one start, tossing 5.2 scoreless innings to earn the win while striking out seven, surrendering three hits and two walks.

Victor Diaz has not allowed an earned run in his last six games (10.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 ER, 7 BB, 14 SO, 3 Sv, 1-0).

Kien Vu has hit safely in 10 straight games, batting .343 (13 for 40) with 2 HR, 8 RBI, 8 R.

Esmith Pineda in his last 9 games is batting .355 (11 for 31). He has a 5-game hitting streak, batting .368 during the streak. For the year, he is hitting .350 with runners in scoring position.

Carlos Sanchez has hit safely in 6 straight games, batting .304. For the year, he ranks 7th in the MWL in batting average (.323), hitting .404 vs. right-handed pitchers. Sanchez is tied for 5th in the MWL in hits (30), 3rd in runs scored (26), and tied for 3rd in stolen bases (12).

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

Wednesday, May 6 (6:05 pm): Dayton RH Cole Schoenwetter (2-0, 5.12) at West Michigan LH Ben Jacobs (0-0, 3.60)

Thursday, May 7 (11:00 am): Dayton RH Beau Blanchard (2-2, 5.24) at West Michigan RH Lucas Elissalt (0-2, 5.21)

Friday, May 8 (6:35 pm): Dayton RH Nestor Lorant (1-2, 2.66) at West Michigan RH Rayner Castillo (0-3, 7.11)

Saturday, May 9 (2:00 pm): Dayton RH Reynardo Cruz (0-1, 6.87) at West Michigan LH Gabriel Reyes (0-2, 5.06)

Sunday, May 10 (2:00 pm): Dayton RH J.P. Ortiz at West Michigan RH Carlos Marcano (0-1, 3.06)

Next Home Series: vs. Lake County (6 games), May 12-17

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). First telecast is May 15. 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 May 5, 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