MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, July 15

Published on July 15, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, July 15, 2010 * Game # 89 (20)

O'Brien Field * Peoria, Ill. * 8:00 p.m.

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Dayton Dragons (7-12, 37-51) at Peoria Chiefs (5-12, 43-43)

RH Ricky Bowen (2-2, 4.50) vs. RH Nick Struck (2-8, 3.89)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Chiefs (affiliate of the Chicago Cubs) in the second game of a three-game set. Season Series: Peoria 1, Dayton 0. Streaks: Dayton: Lost 4 (Won 6 of last 10). Peoria: Won 1 (2-8 over last 10 games).

Last Game: Peoria's Nelson Perez hit a game-winning home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to break a 9-9 tie after the Dragons had tied the game with five runs in the top of the ninth. Dayton's Chris Richburg belted a two-run, game-tying homer with two outs in the top of the ninth after the game had been kept alive when Henry Rodriguez reached on a third-strike wild pitch. The Chiefs scored six runs in the second inning and took a 9-4 lead to the ninth. Frank Pfister had a two-run homer for Dayton in the fourth inning. Pfister, Richburg, Rodriguez, and Mark Fleury each had two hits for Dayton. The game marked the second time in the second half that the Dragons had come from at least four runs down in the top of the ninth to tie the game on a two-out home run before losing. Cameron Satterwhite hit a grand slam at Lansing June 27 to tie it. Lansing won the game in 11 innings.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Ricky Bowen will make his seventh start of the season tonight. He started the season in extended spring training and made three relief appearances with the Dragons after joining the club on May 25. In his last start on Friday at Bowling Green, Bowen left the game with two outs in the first inning after being struck on the lower leg with a line drive (0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO). Bowen was selected by the Reds in the 43rd round of the 2009 draft out of Mississippi State University. He played at Mississippi State University. After signing with the Reds last summer, Bowen logged just 14.1 innings, going 0-2, 6.28 with Billings (Pioneer League). Bowen went 2-3, 8.44 at MSU as a junior in the spring of 2009. Bowen, 22, is a native of Jasper, Alabama.

Individual Notes

* Mark Fleury is batting .419 over his last 12 games (18 for 43). Fleury is second in the Midwest League in slugging percentage in the second half at .750. He leads the Dragons in second half batting at .365 and he is batting .429 in July (third in the league).

* Henry Rodriguez has hit safely in 24 of his last 26 games. He is tied for second in the Midwest League in RBI with 54 and tied for second in extra base hits with 38. He is batting .333 over his last 37 games with 14 doubles and four home runs. He is hitting .333 in the second half.

* Alex Oliveras has hit home runs in two of the last three games he has played in (including a grand slam on Friday at Bowling Green). Oliveras is batting .316 over his last five games with eight RBI.

* Didi Gregorius is batting .324 over his last nine games.

* For the period of June 1-July 14, the Dragons have four of the top nine in the Midwest League in slugging percentage. Mark Fleury is third in the league, Chris Richburg is fourth, Cameron Satterwhite is sixth, and Henry Rodriguez is ninth.

* Blair Carson has thrown seven scoreless innings, allowing just three base runners (two singles and a walk) over his last two outings.

* 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

* The Dragons loss last night snapped a six-game road winning streak. It was their longest road winning streak since April 28-May 3, 2007 (club record for consecutive road wins is eight).

* The Dragons have played six three-game sets in the second half and five have ended in sweeps (two series wins, three series losses). Fourteen of the 28 sets the Dragons have played this season have ended in sweeps (six series wins, eight series losses).

* Seven of the 12 Dragons losses in the second half have come by one run and three have come by two runs. The Dragons have held the lead in the eighth or ninth inning in four of their 12 second half losses and were tied in the ninth inning in two other losses. Four times in the second half, the Dragons have held the lead with two outs in the final inning but lost the game.

* The Dragons bullpen has notched 21 saves this season but suffered 20 blown saves. The 20 blown saves lead the league.

* Dayton is 8-27 this season in games when they have committed more errors than their opponent.

* The Dragons have played 11 extra inning games. They are 4-0 at home; 0-7 on the road.

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

Road Trip: 0-1 .316 Batting Average 10.38 Earned Run Average 0 Errors in 1 Game

Last Home Stand: 0-3 .167 Batting Average 4.00 Earned Run Average 3 Errors in 3 Games

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Friday (8:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Tim Crabbe (2-1, 2.54) at Peoria RH Ryan Searle (4-4, 3.96)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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