MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Comeback Bid Comes up Just Short in 6-5 Loss

Published on April 27, 2018 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio - The Fort Wayne TinCaps built a 6-1 lead and held off a furious Dayton comeback effort as they defeated the Dragons 6-5 on Friday night. The loss was the Dragons seventh straight overall and snapped their eight-game home winning streak.

The Dragons faced a 6-2 deficit going to the bottom of the eighth inning before getting a run-scoring double from Jose Garcia and a two-run home run from John Sansone to make it 6-5. Narciso Crook followed Sansone's homer with a one-out single to right field to put the tying run on base. Crook advanced to second on a ground out, but Fort Wayne reliever Travis Radke struck out Mark Kolozsvary to end the threat.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dayton's Michael Beltre singled to left field to start the inning and went to second on Leandro Santana's sacrifice. Pinch hitter Stuart Fairchild reached on a fielding error by third baseman Reinaldo Ilarraza as Beltre held at third. Then, on the most unusual play of the night, Jeter Downs hit a smash that bounced off the body of Ilarraza, directly to the pitcher, Radke, who threw to first to get Downs by a half step as the runners advanced to second and third. With the tying and winning runs in scoring position, Garcia hit a line drive directly at Ilarraza, who made the catch to end the game. It was a hard-luck inning for the Dragons.

The 10-hit Dayton attack was led by Crook, who had three hits including two doubles and two runs batted in. Garcia had three hits and scored three runs. Sansone's home run was his second of the year. Downs had his third straight two-hit game.

Dragons starting pitcher Wendolyn Bautista (0-1) was charged with the loss. He allowed six runs in five innings, giving up six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Reliever Ryan Nutof was outstanding over three scoreless innings, lowering his earned run average to 0.66. Cory Thompson tossed a scoreless top of the ninth and has not given up an earned run this season in eight and two-thirds innings.

In the Standings: The Dragons fell to 9-10 on the season. They have dropped to sixth place in the Midwest League East Division.

Up Next: The Dragons host Fort Wayne again on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field at 7:05. Hunter Greene (0-1, 13.50) will start for Dayton. The game will be televised on Dayton's CW (channel 26; Spectrum channels 13 and 1013).

All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE and on the internet at wone.com. Games are also available on the Dayton Dragons mobile app.

For Dragons 2018 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from April 27, 2018


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