MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Monday, August 8

Published on August 8, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Classic Park * Eastlake, Ohio

7:00 p.m. * Game # 113 (43)

Radio: WONE-AM 980

* ***

Dayton Dragons (27-15, 62-50) at Lake County Captains (18-24, 46-65)

LH Mitch Clarke (2-1, 1.88) vs. RH Mike Goodnight (5-10, 4.57)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Lake County Captains (affiliate of the Cleveland Indians) in the third game of a four-game series. Season Series: Dayton 8, Lake County 5, (at Lake County: Captains 3, Dragons 3).

Last Night: Dayton defeated Lake County 4-1 for their second straight win in the series. The game was shortened by rain to six and one-half innings. Dayton starting pitcher Tanner Robles worked all six innings and allowed just one hit and one unearned run, walking two and striking out three, for the victory. Jaren Matthews and Ronald Torreyes each hit solo home runs for Dayton and Chris Berset added two hits.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Mitch Clarke makes his third start and fourth appearance with the Dragons tonight. Clarke earned the win on Wednesday vs. West Michigan at Fifth Third Field in his last start (5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO). He was promoted to Dayton from Billings on July 21. Clarke appeared in five games (two starts) this season with Billings, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA in 20 innings. He pitched with the AZL Reds last season, going 3-1, 2.08 in 12 games (six starts). Clarke was the Reds 19th round draft pick in 2009 out of high school in Kitchener, Ontario.

Individual Notes

* Ronald Torreyes leads the classification (Midwest League and South Atlantic League; 30 teams) in second half batting average (.376) and base hits (64), and runs (39) (starting June 24). Torreyes is batting .382 since joining the club on June 17. Torreyes is batting .434 in his last 19 games, has hit in eight straight games, and has not gone hitless in back-to-back games in 2011.

* Billy Hamilton is batting .333 over his last 33 games, raising his average from .223 to .258. He has 78 stolen bases to set the Dragons club record for single-season and career steals. He leads all of professional baseball in steals. No other Minor League player has stolen more than 76 bases in a season since 2006, when Eric Young of Asheville stole 87. Hamilton is also second in the league in runs scored for the year.

* David Vidal is batting .347 with 9 HR and 40 RBI in his last 42 games, raising his average from .267 to .300 (10th in the MWL).

* Donald Lutz has enjoyed three huge games in the last 17 days. On July 21, he hit for the cycle against Peoria. On July 25, he belted two home runs in one game against Burlington. On Thursday night (August 4), he hit a grand slam and drove in six runs.

* 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 six outings covering 11.2 innings.

Team Notes

* With 28 games to play in the second half, the Dragons have a four-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 40 days (since June 29). They have been in first place for all but four days of the half.

* The Dragons have held their opponent to three runs or less in five straight games and two runs or less in four of the last five (7 runs allowed in the last five games).

* The Dragons are batting .282 in the second half (42 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 176 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)

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

Wednesday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Corcino (9-6, 3.47) at West Michigan RH Josue Carreno (5-10, 5.30)

Thursday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Smith (10-6, 2.94) at West Michigan LH Brian Flynn (4-1, 3.45)

Friday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Tanner Robles (4-8, 6.16) at West Michigan RH Victor Larez (2-2, 6.14)

East Division Second Half Playoff Race

(Top Two Teams Qualify)

Dayton 27-15 --- Great Lakes 23-19 -4.0

West Michigan 23-19 -4.0

Fort Wayne 22-20 -5.0

South Bend 19-23 -8.0

Lake County 18-24 -9.0

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 8, 2011


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