MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, August 4

Published on August 4, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, August 4, 2011

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio

7:07 p.m. * Game # 109 (39)

Radio: WONE-AM 980

Television: WHIO Digital Channel 7.2

* ***

West Michigan Whitecaps (20-18, 52-55) at Dayton Dragons (24-14, 59-49)

RH Josue Carreno (5-9, 5.10) vs. RH Kyle Lotzkar (1-1, 5.71)

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

Last Night: Dayton defeated West Michigan 3-2 to even the series at one game apiece. Dragons closer Drew Hayes pitched out of jams in the eighth and ninth innings to earn his 17th save. Dragons starter Mitch Clarke earned the win, allowing just one run in five and one-third innings. Juan Duran hit a solo home run for Dayton and David Vidal had two hits. Ronald Torreyes had an RBI single and Drew Poulk delivered a run-scoring double for the Dragons.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Kyle Lotzkar makes his eighth start of the season tonight and his first appearance since July 16, when he suffered a strained hamstring while taking a throw covering first base at Cedar Rapids. Lotzkar suffered an elbow strain during the final week of spring training and remained in extended spring training until joining the club just prior to the end of the first half. Lotzkar was the Reds supplemental first round draft pick in 2007 and made 10 starts with the Dragons during the second half of the 2008 season before suffering a season-ending elbow injury in early August. He missed all of 2009 while rehabilitating from "Tommy John" elbow surgery and returned to action last year, making 10 starts and two relief appearances between the AZL Reds and the Billings Mustangs. With Billings under Dragons manager Delino DeShields, Lotzkar allowed just one run in 20 innings and posted a walk-strikeout ratio of 2-33. Lotzkar, still only 21 years old, is a native of Delta, British Columbia, Canada. He was rated as the #10 prospect in the Reds organization by Baseball America prior to this season. The publication described Lotzkar as having the "biggest upside of any pitcher in the system other than Aroldis Chapman." Stalin Gerson will follow Lotzkar to the mound. He was not involved in the decision in his last start last Saturday at Bowling Green (4.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO).

Individual Notes

* Ronald Torreyes leads the Midwest League in batting average (.383) and base hits (59) in the second half (starting June 24). He ranks tied for first in runs scored with Billy Hamilton. Torreyes is batting .389 since joining the club on June 17. Torreyes is batting .467 in his last 15 games and was named the Dragons "Batter of the Month" for July.

* Billy Hamilton is batting .336 over his last 29 games, raising his average from .223 to .255. He has 75 stolen bases to set the Dragons club record for single-season and career steals. He leads all of professional baseball in steals.

* David Vidal is batting .343 with 9 HR and 38 RBI in his last 37 games, raising his average from .267 to .298.

* Daniel Wolford over his last 26 G: 43.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0.62 ERA to lower his season ERA from 4.50 to 1.46. He has not allowed a run since June 9 (14 games, 24.1 innings).

* Blaine Howell has been unscored upon in 11 of his last 13 appearances. Over the span, he has allowed three runs in 18 innings (1.50 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

* The Dragons snapped a five-game losing streak with last night's win.

* The season series between the Dragons and Whitecaps is even at 4-4. The season series is the tiebreaker for playoff bids.

* The Dragons went 19-9 in July (best record in the league).

* Dayton has held at least a share of first place for the last 36 days (since June 29). They have been in first place for all but four days of the half.

* The Dragons are batting .281 in the second half (38 games) after hitting .241 in the first half (70 games). The Dragons are averaging 5.7 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 finished July with a team earned run average of 3.56 to rank second in the league. In August, they have allowed 19 runs in three games, posting a team ERA of 6.23 (15th in MWL).

* The Dragons have stolen 171 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)

Friday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Corcino (9-5, 3.41) vs. West Michigan LH Brian Flynn (3-1, 3.52) -TV: WHIO Digital Channel 7.2

East Division Second Half Playoff Race

(Top Two Teams Qualify)

Dayton 24-14 --- Great Lakes 22-16 -2.0

West Michigan 20-18 -4.0

Fort Wayne 19-19 -5.0

Lake County 17-21 -7.0

South Bend 17-21 -7.0

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 4, 2011


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