MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, August 12, 2010

Published on August 12, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, August 12, 2010 * Game # 114 (45)

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio * 7:00 p.m.

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Lansing Lugnuts (22-23, 58-56) at Dayton Dragons (10-34, 40-73)

LH Egan Smith (4-2, 4.58) vs. RH Clayton Shunick (0-0, 3.18)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Lugnuts (affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays) in the second game of a three-game set.

Season Series: Lansing 10, Dayton 3. (At Dayton: Lansing 4, Dayton 3,).

Streaks: Dayton: Lost 5 (Lost 26 of last 29). Lansing: Won 2 (Lost 7 of last 9).

Last Game: Lansing defeated Dayton 5-2 in 11 innings on Wednesday. Brad Glenn's two-run triple broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the 11 th to give Lansing the eventual winning runs. The Dragons nearly took the lead in the bottom of the eighth when Kevyn Feiner was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a base hit by Didi Gregorius with two outs and the score tied. Dayton finished with 10 hits. Ryan LaMarre and Josh Garton each had two. Dragons starting pitcher Jacob Johnson allowed only one hit and one walk over six scoreless innings. Lansing starter Drew Hutchison was perfect over his five innings on the mound, retiring all 15 batters he faced.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Clayton Shunick makes his third start with the Dragons tonight. Shunick started Saturday against West Michigan and was not involved in the decision (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO). Shunick was the Reds fifth round draft pick in 2008 out of North Carolina State University, where he earned Collegiate Baseball 2nd Team All-American honors. Shunick pitched at Billings in 2008 after being drafted but missed all of 2009 after undergoing "Tommy John" reconstructive elbow surgery. He opened this season at extended spring training before an assignment to Billings at the start of the Pioneer League season. In seven starts with the Mustangs, he went 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA. In three straight starts in July, he worked at least six innings and allowed one run or less.

Individual Notes

* Mark Fleury is batting .319 over his last 32 games. He batted .352 in July to tie for eighth in the league. He is batting .304 in the second half to rank second on the club.

* Henry Rodriguez has hit safely in 43 of his last 49 games. Since June 1, he is batting .321 to raise his season average from .260 to .293. He is hitting .320 in the second half to lead the team.

* Ryan LaMarre has hit in 11 straight games and 15 of his last 16. He is batting .388 over his last 16 games.

* Jacob Johnson over his last five starts: 2-0, 31.1 IP, 3 ER, 0.86 ERA. Johnson since May 26: 6-2, 2.86 ERA.

* The Dragons roster includes two players who are ranked among the Reds top 30 prospects by Baseball America. They are shortstop Didi Gregorius (#15) and pitcher J.C. Sulbaran (#25).

Team Notes

* During the Dragons last 22 home games (all losses), they have been tied or leading in the ninth inning six times including in two of the five games on this home stand. They have had five games in which the winning run was on base in the bottom of the ninth inning or later. In 11 of the 22 games, Dayton had the tying or winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth or later. Three of the games have gone to extra innings.

* The Dragons are batting .271 over the first five games of the current seven-game home stand.

* Dragons starting pitchers over the last 21 games: 1-12, 96.2 IP, 79 R, 69 ER, 6.42 ERA.

* The Dragons have held the lead in the eighth or ninth inning in six of their 34 second half losses and were tied in the ninth inning in five other losses.

* Five times in the second half, the Dragons have held the lead with two outs in the final inning but lost the game.

* Dayton has led in 34 of their 73 losses.

* The Dragons bullpen has notched 23 saves this season but suffered 22 blown saves. The 22 blown saves lead the league. Over the first 44 games of the second half, the Dragons bullpen has been charged with seven blown saves.

* Dayton is 9-12 on the road in the second half; 1-22 at home.

* Dayton is 9-38 this season in games when they have committed more errors than their opponent.

* The Dragons have played 14 extra inning games. They are 4-3 at home; 0-7 on the road. They are 0-5 in extra innings in the second half.

* The Dragons have seven "walk-off" wins this season, three more than they had in all of 2009.

Current Home Stand: 0-5 .271 Batting Average 6.61 Earned Run Average 10 Errors in 5 Games

Last Road Trip: 2-5 .233 Batting Average 4.50 Earned Run Average 10 Errors in 7 Games

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Friday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Tim Crabbe (2-4, 4.29) vs. Lansing RH Dave Sever (4-8, 4.65)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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