MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday August 14th

Published on August 14, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the last game of a four-game series. Season Series: West Michigan 10, Dayton 5 (At Dayton: West Michigan 7, Dayton 4).

Dayton in This Series: 1-2 (Team Batting Average: .259; Team ERA: 4.50).

The Race: Dayton will qualify for the playoffs by finishing in the top two among the four teams battling for an Eastern Division 2nd Half playoff berth.

Last Night: West Michigan scored nine runs in the first inning and defeated the Dragons 14-2. Gustavo Nunez homered from both sides of the plate (one was a grand slam) to lead the Whitecaps. All nine Dragons batters had at least one hit but Dayton hit into three double plays and stranded seven.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Chase Ware makes his first professional start for the Dragons tonight. He last pitched on Sunday at Lansing and earned the win in relief (4.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO). Ware has made four relief appearances for the Dragons and he pitched out of the bullpen six times earlier this season with the GCL Reds, going 1-1, 4.50. Ware was signed as a 2009 non-drafted free agent by the Reds out of Arkansas State University. This spring, Ware went 5-3, 4.22 as a starter at ASU. He was a 2nd Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a junior in 2008 when he went 5-6, 3.57 and finished third in the conference in ERA.

Skipper: Todd Benzinger makes his professional baseball managerial debut in 2009. Benzinger enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career from 1987-1995 with the Reds, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers, and Giants. Todd is a former first baseman who recorded the final putout of the 1990 World Series with the Reds to complete their four-game sweep of the Oakland A's. Benzinger is a native of the Cincinnati area and currently resides in West Chester, Ohio. He has enjoyed a highly-successful career coaching girls' high school basketball since 1999.

Individual Notes

- Miguel Rojas is batting .373 in his last 35 games and is hitting .347 in the second half. Rojas led the MWL in July batting with a .385 average.

- Byron Wiley has reached base with a hit or walk in 31 straight games and 43 of his last 44. Over his last 47 games since June 14, he is batting .339 with 14 doubles, two triples, nine HR, and 42 RBI, raising his batting average from .211 to .282.

- Alex Oliveras is batting .388 over his last 11 games with 2 HR, 7 RBI, and 7 R.

- Carlos Mendez is batting .368 over his last 25 games, hitting safely in 24 of the 25.

- Kevyn Feiner is batting .385 over his last five games with seven doubles and seven RBI.

- Humberto Sosa has hit in seven straight games, going 11 for 27, .407, with 1 HR and 5 RBI.

- Pitcher Mark Serrano has a current 20 and two-thirds innings scoreless streak, longest of the year for a Dayton pitcher.

Team Notes

- The Dragons have won seven of their last 10 games. They are 16-9 over their last 25 games.

- Despite an overall record of 51-65, the Dragons are 42-40 since May 14th. They started the season by going 9-25.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .285 in the second half (46 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

- During the Dragons 16-9 stretch, they are batting .294 as a team and averaging 5.6 runs per game.

- After 13 games in August, the Dragons are first in the league in batting for the month at .304.

Team Pitching Notes

- During the Dragons 16-9 stretch, the team ERA is 3.52.

- The Dragons second half team ERA is 4.34. The first half ERA was 4.50.

- Over the last five games, Dragons starting pitchers have allowed 24 runs in 17 innings. This includes seven scoreless innings by Mark Serrano.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from August 14, 2009


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