MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, June 2

Published on June 2, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, June 2, 2011 * Game # 54

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio * 7:07 p.m.

Radio: WONE-AM 980 * TV: WHIO Digital Channel 7.2

Beloit Snappers (26-27) at Dayton Dragons (26-27)

RH Manuel Soliman (2-2, 4.10) vs. RH Josh Smith (4-3, 1.78)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Snappers (affiliate of the Minnesota Twins) in the finale of a three-game series. Season Series: Beloit 2, Dayton 0. Streaks: Dayton has lost 5 straight games after winning 4 straight. Beloit has won 5 of 6 after losing 9 straight.

Last Game: Beloit held off the Dragons third comeback bid of the night, defeating Dayton 6-5 to win their second straight game in the series. Beloit scored three runs in the top of the third inning before Dayton came back to tie 3-3. The Snappers broke a 4-4 tie with two runs in the sixth inning and took a 6-4 lead to the ninth. The Dragons loaded the bases with two outs and scored one run on an error before Jose Gonzalez struck out Jefry Sierra to end the game. Sierra had two doubles and two RBI to lead a five-hit Dragons attack.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Josh Smith makes his 11th start of the season tonight. In Smith's last start last Friday at South Bend, he earned the win (6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 5 SO). Smith has allowed one earned run or less in seven of his 10 starts. He has struck out 13 in one start and 12 in another. He has walked one or less in each of his last five starts. 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 went 8-4, 4.66 in 14 starts with four complete games including 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.

Manager/Coaches: Delino DeShields is in his first season with the Dragons and third year in the Reds organization. He served as the manager of the Billings Mustangs in the Pioneer League last season, leading the club to a record of 38-37. As a player, DeShields spent 13 years in the Major Leagues from 1990-2002 with the Expos, Dodgers, Orioles, Cardinals, and Cubs. He finished in the top three in the league in stolen bases six times and is 46th on the all-time career list with 463. DeShields hit .290 or higher five times. DeShields finished second in the National League Rookie of the Year voting in 1990...Pitching coach Tony Fossas is in his third season with the Dragons and third year in the Reds organization. Fossas pitched in the Major Leagues from 1988-1999 as a relief pitcher, appearing in 567 big league games with Boston, St. Louis, and five other clubs...Hitting coach Alex Pelaez is in his first season with the Dragons. He served as the hitting coach with Billings last season. Pelaez played professionally for eight seasons from 1998-2005 (played in big leagues in 2002 with the Padres).

Individual Notes

* Tucker Barnhart has hit in 13 straight games, going 17 for 43, .395, to raise his batting average from .260 to .310. This is the longest hitting streak of the year by a Dayton player and one short of the longest streak in the league this season (Anthony Gallas, Lake County, 14).

* David Vidal is 4 for 8 with a home run and five runs batted in over the first two games of this series.

* Billy Hamilton has 42 stolen bases to set the Dragons club record for single-season and career steals. He leads all of professional baseball in steals. Hamilton led the Reds organization in stolen bases (48) in 2010 despite playing in a "short-season" league.

* Drew Poulk has gone 4 for 11, .364 with a home run in his first four games with the Dragons. He hit .354-14-73 last spring at North Carolina State University in 59 games.

Team Notes

* The Dragons have lost five straight games by a combined score of 29-20. Prior to these five games, they had won four straight by a combined score of 26-3.

* Dragons starting pitchers have allowed 11 runs in two games in this series after allowing a total of 16 in the previous 10 games.

* Dragons' opponents had scored more than four runs in just three of the previous 19 games before scoring 17 in two games in this series.

* Over the Dragons last nine games, they are 26 for 85, .306 with men in scoring position (2 for 11 last night; 29 at-bats with men in scoring position in this series-7 hits, 241 avg.).

* The Dragons have stolen 97 bases to lead all of professional baseball.

* Four 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 Daniel Corcino (#15) and outfielder Juan Duran (#28). Additionally, starting pitcher Daniel Tuttle was named as the #31 prospect in the magazine's special supplement.

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 (6-3, 3.10) vs. Wisconsin RH Austin Ross (5-2, 2.29)

Saturday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Tuttle (4-2, 4.04) vs. Wisconsin RH Tyler Thornburg (4-0, 1.31)

Sunday (2:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Tanner Robles 3-4, 5.62) vs. Wisconsin TBA or RH Brooks Hall (1-0, 3.94)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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