MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Monday, July 11

Published on July 11, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dragons GameDay

Monday, July 11, 2011

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio

7:00 p.m. * Game # 88 (18)

Radio: WONE-AM 980

***

South Bend Silver Hawks (5-12, 39-47) at Dayton Dragons (13-4, 48-39)

RH J.R. Bradley (2-12, 5.29) vs. RH Josh Smith (8-3, 2.21)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the South Bend Silver Hawks (affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in the last game of a three-game series. Season Series: Dayton 7, South Bend 6 (at Fifth Third Field: Dayton 3, South Bend 2).

Last Game: Dayton defeated South Bend 6-2 on Sunday. David Vidal hit a two-run home run and drove in three runs to lead the Dragons to their third straight win and their ninth in the last 10 games. Starting pitcher Kyle Lotzkar earned the win, going six innings and allowing three hits and two runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Three Dragons relievers combined to retire the last nine batters, notching six strikeouts. Billy Hamilton had three hits and two stolen bases.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Josh Smith makes his 17th start of the season tonight. In Smith's last start on Wednesday at Fort Wayne, he was not involved in the decision (5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO). He was the starting pitcher for the Eastern Division in the Midwest League All-Star Game on June 21 when he tossed one perfect inning and notched two strikeouts. Smith has allowed one earned run or less in 10 of his 16 starts, and two earned runs or less in 13 of the 16. He has struck out 13 in one start and 12 in another. Smith was the Dragons Pitcher of the Month for April (2-1, 0.93 ERA, 5 starts). Smith is a 23-year-old native of Margate, Florida who was signed by the Reds as a #21 draft pick in 2010 out of Lipscomb University. Smith was an Atlantic Sun Conference 1st Team selection in 2010 at Lipscomb University, where he tossed three straight nine-inning complete games March 26-April 9. On two occasions, Smith struck out 15 batters in a game. He finished fourth among all NCAA Division I pitchers in strikeouts.

Individual Notes

* David Vidal is batting .354 with 4 HR and 19 RBI in his last 18 games, raising his average from .267 to .289.

* Ronald Torreyes ranks fifth in the Midwest League in batting (.368) since June 17 when he joined the club from extended spring training. He has at least two hits in 11 of the 19 games he has appeared in.

* Dominic D'Anna is batting .321 (9 for 28, 7 BB) over his last eight games.

* Jefry Sierra is batting .333 over his last 11 games, raising his average from .206 to .226.

* Juan Duran is batting .303 with 4 HR and 18 RBI over his last 26 games, raising his average from .229 to .263.

* Tucker Barnhart is batting .325 over his last 12 games to raise his average from .271 to .282.

* Billy Hamilton has hit safely in eight straight games (14 for 36, .389). He has 64 stolen bases to set the Dragons club record for single-season and career steals. He leads all of professional baseball in steals.

* Drew Hayes over his last 28 G: 33.1 IP, 2 R, 0.54 ERA (15 straight games without allowing a run covering 15.2 innings).

* Daniel Wolford over his last 20 G: 32.2 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0.83 ERA.

Team Notes

* The Dragons have won nine of their last 10 games. They are nine games over the .500 mark for the first time this season.

* Dayton has held sole possession of first place for the last eight days and held at least a share of first for the last 12 days.

* The Dragons are 19-8 over their last 27 games. They have won six straight series to start the second half.

* Dayton is 18-4 when scoring the first run of the game at home.

* The Dragons are batting .280 in the second half (17 games) after hitting .241 in the first half (70 games).

* The Dragons bullpen ERA for the year is 2.84.

* The Dragons have stolen 147 bases to rank first in all of professional baseball (Lake Elsinore, 141, California League).

* Dayton has outscored its opponents 182-61 in their last 26 wins. Opponents have scored one run or less in 12 of the last 26 Dragons wins.

* 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)

Wednesday (8:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Stalin Gerson (3-0, 0.75) at Quad Cities LH Ryan Copeland (0-1, 3.94)

Thursday (8:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Corcino (8-4, 3.12) at Quad Cities RH Seth Blair (5-3, 4.23)

Friday (8:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Renken (4-8, 3.75) at Quad Cities RH Trevor Rosenthal (3-7, 3.57)

Saturday (7:35 p.m.): Dayton RH Kyle Lotzkar at Cedar Rapids TBA

Sunday, July 17 (3:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Smith at Cedar Rapids TBA

Monday, July 18 (1:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Stalin Gerson at Cedar Rapids TBA

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from July 11, 2011


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central