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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday August 24th

August 24, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the South Bend Silver Hawks (affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in the first game of a four-game series.

Season Series: Dayton 5, South Bend 3 (At South Bend: Dayton 2, South Bend 2).

Dayton in Last Series vs. West Michigan: 3-1 (Team Batting Average: .248; Team ERA: 3.00).

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. Entering tonight's games, Dayton leads South Bend by one game for the #2 seed in the second half race with 14 games to play. Dayton and South Bend have seven head-to-head games remaining on the schedule.

Last Game: West Michigan avoided a sweep of the four-game series as they defeated the Dragons 3-0. Avisail Garcia belted a solo home run for West Michigan and Whitecaps pitchers Adam Wilk, Erik Crichton, and Tyler Conn combined to allow just six hits. Tony Brown had a single and triple for Dayton. Byron Wiley added a single and double. Dragons starting pitcher Justin Walker took the loss in his first start, allowing two runs in four innings on seven hits.

Today's Starting Pitcher: J.C. Sulbaran (pronounced SOOL-ber-wrong) makes his 19th professional start tonight for Dayton. His last start was Tuesday at Fort Wayne and he suffered the loss (5.0 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO). Over his last 11 starts, Sulbaran has allowed 45 runs in 38.1 innings including 14 unearned runs. His ERA over those 11 starts is 7.51. He has walked 32 and struck out 39. Sulbaran threw one scoreless inning in the All-Star Futures Game in St. Louis and earned the save. Sulbaran started the season in extended spring training in Sarasota due to a blister problem on his right (pitching) hand. Sulbaran has pitched in some big international games. He appeared in two games for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started a game for the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing against Cuba. Sulbaran moved from the island of Curacao in the Caribbean to the Miami area with his family at age 16 to further baseball career. He was honored as the Miami-area pitcher of the year in 2008, going 11-0, 1.40. He fell to the 30th round of the 2008 draft due to his commitment to the University of Florida. He was rated by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in Reds organization prior to 2009 season.

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 .342 in his last 44 games and is hitting .327 in the second half. Rojas led the MWL in July batting with a .385 average.

- Byron Wiley is batting .320 over his last 55 games since June 14 with 17 doubles, two triples, 10 HR, and 46 RBI, raising his batting average from .211 to .275.

- Alex Oliveras is batting .357 over his last 17 games with 2 HR, 11 RBI, and 11 R.

- Carlos Mendez is batting .336 over his last 34 games.

- Humberto Sosa is batting .360 over his last 14 games.

Team Notes

- The Dragons are 19-15 over their last 34 games. Since starting the season 9-25, the Dragons are 45-46.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .275 in the second half (55 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

- The Dragons are batting .215 over their last eight games.

Team Pitching Notes

- The Dragons second half team ERA is 4.43. The first half ERA was 4.50.

- Over the last 14 games, Dragons starting pitchers have allowed 51 runs in 58.2 innings.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from August 24, 2009


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