MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Thursday, June 9

Published on June 9, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Thursday, June 9, 2011 * Game # 60

Alliant Energy Field

Clinton, Iowa * 8:00 p.m.

Radio: WONE-AM 980

Dayton Dragons (29-30) at Clinton Lumber Kings (20-40)

RH Daniel Corcino (7-3, 2.72) vs. LH Edlando Seco (1-0, 6.12)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Lumber Kings (affiliate of the Seattle Mariners) in the rubber match of a three-game series. Season Series: Dayton 1, Clinton 1.

Last Game: Dayton defeated Clinton 5-0 to even the series. Josh Smith fired six scoreless innings to earn the win and improve his season's ERA to 1.73. Billy Hamilton had three hits and stole three bases for the Dragons. Yorman Rodriguez added three hits and scored two runs while Juan Duran had two hits and an RBI. The Dragons stole five bases in the game while limiting Clinton to just three hits. Relievers Chad Rogers, Jamie Walczak, and Drew Hayes each worked a scoreless inning after Smith.

Playoff Race: The Dragons are 4 games out of first place and 3 games out of the wildcard slot with 11 games to play in the half.

Working Toward a Winner: If the Dragons can go 7-4 over their last 11 games of the half, they will post their third winning "first-half" in franchise history. The Dragons best first half ever came in 2007 (44-26) with a club that had nine players who have played in the major leagues. They are OF Drew Stubbs, OF Chris Heisey, SS Chris Valaika, 3B Juan Francisco, 2B Justin Turner, RHP Jordan Smith, RHP Daryl Thompson, RHP Marcos Mateo, and LHP Pedro Viola.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Daniel Corcino makes his 12th start of the season tonight. Corcino was brilliant in his last start on Friday when he beat Wisconsin with seven shutout innings (7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 10 SO). He won six consecutive starts from April 18-May 18. Corcino has been dominant over his last nine starts (48.2 IP, 8 ER, 1.48 ERA). Corcino has allowed no runs in four of his last seven starts. Corcino is a 20-year-old native of the Dominican Republic. He entered the 2011 season rated as the #15 prospect in Reds organization by Baseball America. Corcino has drawn comparisons to fellow Dominican and former Dragon Johnny Cueto because of a fastball that can get into the mid 90 mph range and sub-six foot frame.

Strikeout Leaders: Dayton's Josh Smith leads Midwest League pitchers in strikeouts while teammate Daniel Renken is second and Daniel Corcino is tied for third. The Dragons staff leads the league in strikeouts with 38 more than any other team.

Individual Notes

* Billy Hamilton is batting .375 (15 for 40) with four doubles and two triples over his last 11 games, raising his batting average from .195 to .229. He has 48 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.

* Tucker Barnhart is batting .328 over his last 18 games (19 for 58) to raise his batting average from .260 to .290.

* David Vidal is batting .346 (9 for 26) with a home run and six runs batted in over his last seven games to raise his average from .258 to .270.

* Yorman Rodriguez is 5 for 8 over his last 3 games (4 for 6 in this series). Over the three games, his average has jumped from .228 to .246.

* Bullpen Dominance: Drew Hayes over his last 16 G: 21 IP, 2 R, 0.86 ERA=A1 - Daniel Wolford over his last 11 G: 18 IP, 2 R, 1.00 ERA=A1 - Jason Braun over his last 7 G: 11.2 IP, 1 R, 0.77 ERA=A1 - Blaine Howell over his last 6 G: 10 IP, 1 R, 0.91 ERA.

* Dragons in the All-Star Game (Davenport, Iowa; June 21): RHP Josh Smith, RHP Daniel Corcino and 1B Dominic D'Anna.

Team Notes

* Since April 18, the Dragons have held their opponents to two runs or less in 26 out of 48 games (54 percent of games). They are 24-2 in those games. They are 2-20 in the 22 games when the opponent scored three runs or more.

* The Dragons have gone 39 games without winning a game in which the opponent scored three runs or more (0-19 in those games). They are 19-1 during that time when the opponent scored two or less.

* The Dragons have outscored their opponents 53-6 in their last seven wins (they are 7-8 over their last 15 games). Opponents have scored one run or less in six of the seven Dragons wins and two runs in the other Dragons win.

* The Dragons have stolen 111 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 (8:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Tuttle (4-3, 4.99) at Kane County RH Leondy Perez (1-5, 3.00)

Saturday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton TBA at Kane County RH Leonel Santiago (4-6, 3.58)

Sunday (2:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Renken (2-6, 3.31) at Kane County RH Yordano Ventura (1-1, 5.31)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from June 9, 2011


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