MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Tuesday (7:05 PM Start)

Published on September 5, 2023 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023lGame # 61 (127)

Day Air Ballpark l Dayton, Ohio l7:05 p.m.

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Fort Wayne TinCaps (34-26, 66-60) at Dayton Dragons (31-29, 64-62)

RH Edwuin Bencomo (2-3, 6.70) vs. RH Chris McElvain (1-2, 4.99)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the first game of a six-game series. Season Series: Fort Wayne 11, Dayton 7 (at Day Air Ballpark: Fort Wayne 4, Dayton 2).

Last Game: Sunday: Dayton 7, Great Lakes 0. Dragons pitchers Carson Rudd, Jacob Heatherly, and Jayvien Sandridge combined on a two-hit shutout as the Dragons won four-of-six in the series. Justice Thompson had two hits including a home run. The Dragons tied the club record for most sacrifice flies in a game with three.

Last Series (August 29-Sept. 3 at Great Lakes): Dayton went 4-2 in the series.

Dayton team statistics in the series: .250 batting average; 4.0 runs/game; 11 home runs; 5 stolen bases; 4.25 ERA; 5 errors.

Team Notes

The Dragons are in third place, three games behind Fort Wayne and two and one-half games behind West Michigan in the East Division with six games to play. To reach the playoffs, the Dragons must win the division title in the second half.

If the Dragons can go 3-3 or better over their final six games, they will finish the year with a winning record for the third straight year. The Dragons have had a winning record in three consecutive years once in team history (2000-02, their first three years).

The Dragons hit 11 home runs in the six games in the series at Great Lakes, their highest home run total in any series in 2023.

The Dragons have a chance to lead the Midwest League in team pitching for the first time since 2011 and the second time in franchise history. The Dragons team ERA stands at 3.79, .04 behind the league leader (Great Lakes).

The Dragons are on pace to break the club record for highest fielding percentage in a season. They are currently at .978. The club record is .976, in 2022, when they had 107 errors in 128 games. They have 100 errors in 126 games in 2023.

In 2022, the Dragons had six players reach double-figures in home runs for the first time in franchise history (Elly De La Cruz, Austin Hendrick, Allan Cerda, Jose Torres, Alex McGarry, Rece Hinds). In 2023, five Dragons players have reached double-figures (Mat Nelson, Ruben Ibarra, Jack Rogers, Edwin Arroyo, Austin Hendrick; Justice Thompson has nine).

Player Notes

Austin Hendrick now ranks tied for second on the Dragons career home run list with 28. The club record is 30 by Chris Williamson, who played for the Dragons in 2000-02. Williamson's top season was 2002 when he hit 22. Hendrick has 14 home runs for the Dragons in 2023 after hitting 14 in 2022. Hendrick is tied with Randy Ruiz and Samone Peters with 28. No player who had played for the Dragons after 2002 had hit more than 26 in his Dragons career prior to Hendrick.

Justice Thompson over his last seven games is batting .400 (10 for 25) with one home run.

Zach Maxwell over his last five games: 9.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 16 SO.

Brooks Crawford over his last 13 G (since July 21): 3-0, 1.69 ERA, 3 saves, 25.2 IP, .185 opponent's average.

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

Wednesday, Sept. 6 (7:05 pm): Fort Wayne RH Henry Baez (0-0, 5.25) at Dayton RH Jose Acuña (7-3, 3.50)

Thursday, Sept. 7 (7:05 pm): Fort Wayne LH Miguel Cienfuegos (2-5, 3.69) at Dayton TBA

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from September 5, 2023


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