Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Wednesday (7:05 PM at Great Lakes)
MWL Dayton Dragons

Dayton Dragons GameDay Notes for Wednesday (7:05 PM at Great Lakes)

Published on July 8, 2026 under Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Wednesday, July 8, 2026 l Game #82 (16)

Dow Diamond l Midland, Mich. l 7:05 pm

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

Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE

Dayton Dragons (7-8, 46-35) at Great Lakes Loons (11-4, 47-32)

RH Reynardo Cruz (4-3, 5.71) vs. RH Aidan Foeller (3-0, 2.76)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Great Lakes Loons (affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers) in the second game of a six-game series. Season Series: Dayton 7, Great Lakes 6 (at Midland: Great Lakes 4, Dayton 3).

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: Tuesday: Great Lakes 4, Dayton 2. Loons starting pitcher Zach Root struck out 11 batters over six shutout innings and did not allow a runner to reach second base. The Loons scored three runs in the fifth to break a scoreless tie. Peyton Stovall had a two-run triple in the eighth for Dayton.

Last Series: Dayton 3, Lansing 3. Both teams scored 33 runs in the series. Dayton hit .271 as a team (.295 with runners in scoring position) with 7 HR, 0 SB, a 3.88 team ERA and 7 errors.

Dragons Team and Player Trending Notes:

The Dragons need a win tonight to avoid what would be a season-high four-game losing streak.

Dragons manager Julio Morillo needs two wins to reach 200 career victories as a manager.

The Dragons are 33-21 (.611) since May 5. They lead the MWL in home runs during that time period (89 in 54 games).

The Dragons have hit 103 HR in 81 G, on pace to finish the year with 166 (club record: 152 in 2022).

The Dragons have scored 482 runs, on pace to finish the year with 779 (club record is 730 in 2000).

Graham Crackin': Carter Graham was selected as the Midwest League Player of the Month and Cincinnati Reds Minor League Player of the Month for June. He hit 11 home runs for the Dragons in June, the second highest HR total in any month for a Dayton player in franchise history (Austin Kearns had 14 in July, 2000). In June with the Dragons, Graham batted .354, 11 HR, 27 RBI, .829 slugging pct, 1.319 OPS (he also played 1 G with Chattanooga in June and added an additional HR). Graham became the first Dayton hitter to be named MWL Player of the Month since Blake Dunn in April, 2023, and only the fourth since the award's inception in 2005 (others were Jose Siri in 2017; Brian O'Grady in 2015). Previous Dragons who have won Reds MiLB Player/Month since the Dragons were classified as High-A in 2021 were: 2021: Brian Rey; 2022: Rece Hinds, Elly De La Cruz; 2023: Blake Dunn; 2024: Cam Collier, Sal Stewart, Ethan O'Donnell; 2026: Alfredo Duno.

Dragons Hottest Hitters:

Julio Carreras in his first 7 G with the Dragons is 8 for 28 (.286) with 4 2B and 5 RBI. He began this season in independent ball (Lake Country, Amer. As).

Tyson Lewis (Reds #4 prospect re: MLB Pipeline) hit his first High-A home run Friday night. In his first 6 G with the Dragons, Lewis is batting .293 (7 for 24).

Ryan McCrystal has gone 13 for 29 (.448) with 7 2B since returning to the Dragons from Double-A. McCrystal was the Dragons Co-Player/Month for April.

Marcus Smith in his first 7 G with the Dragons is 6 for 21 (.286) with 2 HR. He began this season in independent ball (Kansas City; American Association).

Peyton Stovall in his last 28 G is batting .316 with 6 HR, 7 2B, 3 3B, and 23 RBI with an OPS of 1.048.

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

Thursday, July 9 (7:05 pm): Dayton LH Kyle McCoy (3-1, 2.52) at Great Lakes LH Jakob Wright (4-3, 5.40)

Friday, July 10 (7:05 pm): Dayton RH J.P. Ortiz (4-1, 4.98) at Great Lakes LH Sterling Patick (1-5, 5.28)

Saturday, July 11 (7:05 pm): Dayton RH Ty Floyd (0-2, 6.23) at Great Lakes RH Brooks Auger (1-1, 2.57)

Sunday, July 12 (1:05 pm): Dayton RH Ovis Portes (1-5, 9.23) at Great Lakes RH Tyler Gough (1-0, 0.00)

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 July 8, 2026


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