MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Wednesday, July 27

Published on July 27, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dragons GameDay

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Fifth Third Field * Dayton, Ohio

7:00 p.m. * Game # 101 (31)

Radio: WONE-AM 980 *

***

Fort Wayne TinCaps (16-14, 46-53) at Dayton Dragons (22-8, 57-43)

LH Mark Hardy (7-7, 2.68) vs. RH Josh Smith (9-4, 2.51)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the first game of a three-game series. Season Series: Dayton 9, Fort Wayne 3 (at Dayton: Dragons 3, TinCaps 0).

Last Game: Dayton defeated Burlington 5-2 on Monday night to complete their second straight three-game-series sweep and earn their eighth straight win. Donald Lutz hit two home runs and drove in four runs while Ronald Torreyes went 2 for 4 to raise his average to .406.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Josh Smith makes his 19th start of the season tonight. In Smith's last start on July 17 at Cedar Rapids, he earned the win (5 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO). Smith warmed up to start the game on Sunday but was scratched due to a rain delay. He was the starting pitcher for the Eastern Division in the Midwest League All-Star Game on June 21 when he tossed one perfect inning and notched two strikeouts. 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 tossed 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.

Individual Notes

* Donald Lutz has hit safely in 16 straight games, the longest hitting streak of the year for a Dragons player and tied for third longest in club history. Over the streak, he is batting .387 with five home runs. Within the last five games he has played, Lutz has hit for the cycle in one game and belted two home runs in another.

* Ronald Torreyes leads the Midwest League in batting average and base hits in the second half while ranking second in runs scored (behind Billy Hamilton). Since June 24 when the second half began, Torreyes is second in all of minor league baseball in base hits (former Dragon Denis Phipps of Carolina is first). Torreyes is batting .406 since joining the club on June 17. Torreyes is batting .613 in his last seven games.

* Billy Hamilton has scored in his last eight games. He is batting .349 over his last 21 games. He has 74 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 .337 with 5 HR and 28 RBI in his last 28 games, raising his average from .267 to .292.

* Dominic D'Anna is batting .352 with 4 HR and 21 RBI over his last 20 games to raise his average from .267 to .286.

* Daniel Wolford over his last 24 G: 40.1 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0.67 ERA to lower his season ERA from 4.50 to 1.55. He has not allowed a run since June 9 (12 games, 21.1 innings).

Team Notes

* The Dragons have won eight straight games, giving them their longest winning streak since April 28-May 7, 2007 when they won 10 straight. The club record is 13 set in 2002.

* The Dragons 22-8 second half record is the best among the 60 Single-A teams in Minor League Baseball and third best in all of Minor League Baseball among leagues that play a split-season format (13 leagues). They trail only AA Mobile (23-8, Southern League) and Short-Season-A Staten Island (28-9, New York-Penn League).

* The Dragons now lead the Midwest League in team batting on the season at .258. They took over the lead Sunday night (first time in '11).

* Dayton has outscored its opponents on the current homestand 47-14 in 6 games. They have 75 H in 48 innings in the 6 G, batting .362.

* Dayton has won nine of their 10 series in the second half. The Dragons are 18-5 in July. They are 28-12 over the last 40 games.

* Dayton has held at least a share of first place for the last 28 days (since June 29).

* The Dragons are batting .296 in the second half (30 games) after hitting .241 in the first half (70 games). The Dragons are averaging 6.17 runs per game in the second half (4.23 in the first half). The Dragons lead the league in team batting in July at .299.

* The Dragons team earned run average on the current homestand is 1.83. The team ERA in the second half is 3.44 (3.51 in first half).

* The Dragons have stolen 168 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)

Thursday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Renken (5-8, 3.34) vs. Fort Wayne RH Adys Portillo (2-9, 6.21)

Friday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Tanner Robles (3-7, 7.16) vs. Fort Wayne RH Zach Cates (3-6, 4.60)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 27, 2011


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