MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Gameday for Wednesday, July 6

Published on July 6, 2011 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Parkview Field l Fort Wayne, Ind.

7:05 p.m. l Game # 83 (13)

Radio: WONE-AM 980

Dayton Dragons (9-3, 44-38) at Fort Wayne TinCaps (4-8, 34-47)

RH Josh Smith (8-3, 1.91) vs. RH Adys Portillo (1-8, 7.58)

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 7, Fort Wayne 2 (at Fort Wayne: Dayton 4, Fort Wayne 2).

The Streak: The Dragons consecutive game sell-out streak now stands at 814, matching the all-time sports record. The Dragons could break the record held by the Portland Trail Blazers of the NBA on July 9.

Last Game: Dayton defeated South Bend 7-5 on Tuesday afternoon to notch its fifth straight win and complete a sweep of the three-game series. The Dragons battled back from a 5-3 deficit with three runs in the top of the seventh for the win. Dominic D'Anna drove in four runs and Ronald Torreyes reached base four times for the Dragons. The Dayton bullpen turned in another strong performance as Chad Rogers and Blaine Howell combined for four and one-third scoreless innings, allowing a combined one hit.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Josh Smith makes his 16th start of the season tonight. In Smith's last start on Friday vs. Bowling Green, he earned the win (7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO). 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 has allowed one earned run or less in 10 of his 15 starts, and two earned runs or less in 13 of the 15. He has struck out 13 in one start and 12 in another. 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

- Jefry Sierra is batting .423 over his last eight games, raising his average from .206 to .230.

- Juan Duran is batting .312 with 4 HR and 17 RBI over his last 23 games, raising his average from .229 to .263. He has 3 HR in his last 5 G.

- Tucker Barnhart is batting .360 over his last eight games to raise his average from .271 to .283.

- Ronald Torreyes has at least two hits in nine of the 14 games he has appeared in since joining the Dragons, batting .379 overall.

- Billy Hamilton has 60 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 Hayes over his last 26 G: 30.2 IP, 2 R, 0.59 ERA (13 straight games without allowing a run). Hayes is second among Midwest League relievers in strikeouts per 9 innings (13.89) and opponents' batting average (.119).

- Daniel Wolford over his last 18 G: 30 IP, 4 R, 3 ER, 0.90 ERA.

Team Notes

- The Dragons have won five straight games. They are the only Midwest League team with a perfect record in July at 5-0.

- The Dragons are 15-7 over their last 22 games. They have won four straight series to start the second half.

- The Dragons are batting .274 in the second half (12 games) after hitting .241 in the first half (70 games).

- The Dragons have gone 15-8 over their last 23 road games after going 5-13 over their first 18.

- The Dragons bullpen ERA for the year is 2.88. The overall team ERA in the second half is 2.86.

- Since April 18, the Dragons have held their opponents to two runs or less in 34 out of 71 games.

- The Dragons are 39-26 in night games; 5-12 in day games.

- The Dragons have stolen 139 bases to lead all of professional baseball (Lake Elsinore, California League, ranks second with 135).

- Dayton has outscored its opponents 155-52 in their last 22 wins. Opponents have scored one run or less in 10 of the last 22 Dragons wins.

- 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 (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Daniel Corcino (8-3, 2.57) at Fort Wayne RH Zach Cates (2-5, 5.03)

Friday (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Stalin Gerson (2-0, 1.02) at Fort Wayne LH Noah Mull (1-2, 3.35)

Hamilton Pace

Dayton's Billy Hamilton leads all of professional baseball in stolen bases with 60. Here are the full-season leaders in recent years (total in parenthesis is through July 5).

2010 Delvi Cid (Lake County) 71 (35)

2009 Anthony Gose (Lakewood) 76 (47)

2008 Everth Cabrera (Asheville) 73 (54)

2007 Ovandy Suero (Lakeland) 75 (55)

2006 Eric Young (Asheville) 87 (57)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 6, 2011


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