MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, July 22

Published on July 22, 2010 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, July 22, 2010 * Game # 94 (25)

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

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Cedar Rapids Kernels (14-10, 57-35) at Dayton Dragons (8-16, 38-55)

RH Garrett Richards (7-4, 3.61) vs. LH Justin Walker (3-8, 5.34)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Kernels (affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels) in the second game of a three-game set. Cedar Rapids won the West Division First Half title with a 43-25 record, earning a spot in the Midwest League playoffs in September. Cedar Rapids leads the 16-team circuit in batting average and runs scored. They rank fifth in team ERA.

Season Series: Cedar Rapids 1, Dayton 0. Streaks: Dayton: Lost 1 (Lost 8 of last 9). Cedar Rapids: Won 3 after losing three straight.

Last Game: Cedar Rapids defeated Dayton 8-2 to open the three-game series. Jean Segura led a 17-hit Kernels attack, going 4 for 5. All nine batters in the Cedar Rapids lineup had at least one hit. The Dragons finished with six hits. Mark Fleury had an RBI double while Cameron Satterwhite and Henry Rodriguez each contributed two hits. Ricky Bowen started for Dayton and suffered the loss (3 IP, 9 H, 5 R).

Today's Starting Pitcher: Justin Walker makes his 15th start of the season tonight after beginning the year in the Dayton bullpen. In his last start on Wednesday at Peoria, he suffered through the worst start of his professional career (1.0 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO). Walker has gone six innings in 11 of his 14 starts and leads the club in quality starts with six. Walker split 2009 season between Dayton and Billings, going a combined 1-5, 3.65. He worked 56.2 innings, allowing 59 hits with 10 walks and 54 strikeouts. He walked just seven batters in 65 innings of college baseball in 2008 with Lamar University, going 2-2, 4.85 in 19 games (seven starts). He posted a combined record of 18-1 over his junior and senior seasons at Nederland High School in Nederland, Texas.

Individual Notes

* Mark Fleury is batting .373 over his last 15 games. Fleury is second in the Midwest League in slugging percentage in the second half at .683. He is tied for the team lead in second half batting at .333 and he is batting .372 in July.

* Henry Rodriguez has hit safely in 27 of his last 30 games. He is tied for seventh in the Midwest League in RBI with 55, tied for fourth in extra base hits with 40, tied for third in doubles with 29, and tied for fourth in hits with 106. He is batting .333 over his last 41 games with 16 doubles and four home runs. He is hitting .333 in the second half to tie for the team lead.

* 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 are 7-8 over their last 15 games. In the seven wins, the bullpen has posted a 1.61 ERA (28 IP, 5 R, 5 ER) with three saves. In the eight losses, the bullpen has posted a 6.34 ERA (32.2 IP, 24 R, 23 ER) with two blown saves. Over the first 24 games of the second half, the Dragons bullpen has been charged with six blown saves (all six by that game's closer).

* The Dragons have lost eight of their last nine games. Six of the eight losses came by two runs or less.

* The Dragons are batting .200 over their last nine games, averaging 6.7 hits and 4.2 runs per game.

* Dayton opponents have scored at least eight runs in four of the last six games. They have scored three and two runs in the other two games.

* The Dragons have played seven three-game sets in the second half and six have ended in sweeps (two series wins, four series losses). Fifteen of the 30 sets the Dragons have played this season have ended in sweeps (six series wins, nine series losses).

* Seven of the 16 Dragons losses in the second half have come by one run and five have come by two runs. The Dragons have held the lead in the eighth or ninth inning in four of their 16 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 21 blown saves. The 21 blown saves lead the league.

* Dayton is 8-28 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.

Home Stand: 0-1 .182 Batting Average 7.00 Earned Run Average 1 Error in 1 Game

Last Road Trip: 1-4 .224 Batting Average 7.34 Earned Run Average 9 Errors in 5 Games

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Friday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Tim Crabbe (2-1, 2.70) vs. Cedar Rapids LH Tyler Skaggs (7-4, 3.84)

Saturday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Blair Carson (3-3, 2.82) vs. Quad Cities TBA

Sunday (4:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Jacob Johnson (5-6, 4.89) vs. Quad Cities TBA

Monday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Ricky Bowen (2-4, 4.81) vs. Quad Cities TBA

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 22, 2010


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