MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Friday, August 5

Published on August 5, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, August 5, 2011

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio

7:07 p.m. * Game # 110 (40)

Radio: WONE-AM 980

Television: WHIO Digital Channel 7.2

* ***

West Michigan Whitecaps (20-19, 52-56) at Dayton Dragons (25-14, 60-49)

LH Brian Flynn (3-1, 3.52) vs. RH Daniel Corcino (9-5, 3.41)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the last game of a four-game series. Season Series: Dayton 5, West Michigan 4, (at Dayton: Dragons 5, Whitecaps 1).

Last Night: Dayton defeated West Michigan 10-1. Donald Lutz hit a grand slam home run and drove in six runs to lead the Dragons. Dayton scored four in the fourth and six in the seventh for the win. Starting pitcher Kyle Lotzkar struck out eight over four scoreless innings and reliever Stalin Gerson earned the win, giving up one run in three innings. Lutz, Ronald Torreyes, and Frank Pfister all had two hits.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Daniel Corcino makes his 21st start of the season tonight. He suffered the loss in his last start Sunday at Bowling Green (6 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO). Over his last four starts, Corcino is 1-2, 6.12 (25 IP, 17 ER). Over the previous five starts, he was 2-0, 1.42 (31.1 IP, 6 ER). Corcino pitched one inning in the Midwest League All-Star Game on June 21 at Quad Cities, allowing one run in one inning and suffering the loss. He won six consecutive starts from April 18-May 18. Corcino is a 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic. He entered the 2011 season rated as the #15 prospect in Reds organization by Baseball America. Corcino has drawn comparisons to fellow Dominican and former Dragon Johnny Cueto because of a fastball that can get into the mid 90 mph range and sub-six foot frame.

Individual Notes

* Donald Lutz hit a grand slam home run and drove in six runs last night. It was Lutz's third monster game in the last two weeks. On July 21, he hit for the cycle against Peoria. Four days later, he belted two home runs in one game against Burlington, and his grand slam on Thursday was the Dragons first since July 9, 2010 when Alex Oliveras homered with the bases loaded at Bowling Green. It was the first grand slam by a Dragon at Fifth Third Field since June 14, 2009 by Byron Wiley.

* Ronald Torreyes leads the Midwest League in batting average (.389) and base hits (61) in the second half (starting June 24). He ranks tied for first in runs scored with Billy Hamilton. Torreyes is batting .394 since joining the club on June 17. Torreyes is batting .476 in his last 16 games and was named the Dragons "Batter of the Month" for July.

* Billy Hamilton is batting .333 over his last 30 games, raising his average from .223 to .255. He has 76 stolen bases to set the Dragons club record for single-season and career steals. He leads all of professional baseball in steals. No Minor League player has stolen more than 76 bases in a season since 2006, when Eric Young of Asheville stole 87.

* David Vidal is batting .341 with 9 HR and 38 RBI in his last 38 games, raising his average from .267 to .297.

* Daniel Wolford over his last 27 G: 44.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0.61 ERA to lower his season ERA from 4.50 to 1.44. He has not allowed a run since June 9 (15 games, 25.1 innings).

* Blaine Howell has been unscored upon in 12 of his last 14 appearances. Over the span, he has allowed three runs in 19 innings (1.42 ERA).

* Drew Hayes not allowed a run over his last six outings covering 6.1 innings.

* Chad Rogers has allowed no runs over his last five outings covering 10.2 innings.

Team Notes

* With 31 games to play in the second half, the Dragons have a five-game cushion to earn a second-half playoff berth. The top two second half clubs among a group of Dayton, Great Lakes, West Michigan, Fort Wayne, Lake County, and South Bend will qualify.

* Dayton has held at least a share of first place for the last 37 days (since June 29). They have been in first place for all but four days of the half.

* The Dragons are batting .282 in the second half (39 games) after hitting .241 in the first half (70 games). The Dragons are averaging 5.8 runs per game in the second half (4.23 in the first half). The Dragons led the league in team batting in July at .285.

* The Dragons have stolen 174 bases to rank first in all of professional baseball. They have already broken the club record for a season.

* Six members of the Dragons roster are rated among the Reds top 30 prospects according to Baseball America. They include shortstop Billy Hamilton (#2), outfielder Yorman Rodriguez (#5), starting pitcher Kyle Lotzkar (#10), starting pitcher Daniel Corcino (#15), second baseman Ronald Torreyes (#22) and outfielder Juan Duran (#28).

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

Saturday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Smith (9-6, 3.10) at Lake County LH Kirk Wetmore (3-0, 6.21)

Sunday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Tanner Robles (3-8, 6.83) at Lake County RH Jordan Cooper (2-4, 4.79)

Monday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Mitch Clarke (2-1, 1.88) at Lake County RH Mike Goodnight (5-10, 4.57)

Tuesday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Kyle Lotzkar (1-1, 5.12) at Lake County RH Felix Sterling (2-1, 2.20)

East Division Second Half Playoff Race

(Top Two Teams Qualify)

Dayton 25-14 --- Great Lakes 23-16 -2.0

West Michigan 20-19 -5.0

Fort Wayne 19-20 -6.0

Lake County 17-22 -8.0

South Bend 17-22 -8.0

Note: East Division clubs Lansing and Bowling Green are not eligible for second half playoff slots after qualifying in the first half.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from August 5, 2011


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