MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

Published on April 28, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, April 28, 2009 Games # 17 & 18

Coveleski Regional Stadium l South Bend, Ind. l 5:00 p.m.

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

Dayton Dragons (3-13) at South Bend Silver Hawks (7-9) w Doubleheader

RH Josh Ravin (1-1, 2.40) and RH Curtis Partch (0-2, 8.03) vs. RH Trevor Harden (2-1, 3.18) and RH Rafael Quezada (0-2, 8.71)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Silver Hawks (affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in a make-up doubleheader. Last night's game was postponed due to rain. The two clubs have split the first two games of the series.

2008 Season Series: South Bend 9, Dayton 2. South Bend won two of three in South Bend.

Last Game: Dayton 8, South Bend 1 on Sunday. Monday's game was rained-out.

Today's Dayton Starting Pitchers: Josh Ravin makes his fourth start of the season tonight. In his last start Wednesday vs. Great Lakes, he was not involved in the decision (5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO). Ravin was the Reds fifth round draft pick in the 2006 draft out of national power Chatsworth High School. Ravin made 14 starts for the Dragons in 2008, going 2-8, 7.15. In three previous seasons of professional baseball, Ravin went 3-15, 7.03. He allowed only 143 hits in 145 innings but walked 123. Ravin is 21 years old and a native of Tarzana, California.

Curtis Partch will start in game two for Dayton. Partch took the loss in his last start on Thursday vs. Great Lakes (3 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO). Partch spent the 2008 season with the Dragons, going 5-11, 5.00 in 33 games (17 starts). He is a native of Merced, California and was selected by the Reds in the 26th round of the 2007 draft out of Merced Junior College.

Skipper: Todd Benzinger makes his professional baseball managerial debut in 2009. Benzinger enjoyed a nine-year major league playing career from 1987-1995 with the Reds, Red Sox, Royals, Dodgers, and Giants. Todd is a former first baseman who recorded the final putout of the 1990 World Series with the Reds to complete their four-game sweep of the Oakland A's. Benzinger is a native of the Cincinnati area and currently resides in West Chester, Ohio. He has enjoyed a highly-successful career coaching girls' high school basketball since 1999.

Individual Notes

- Byron Wiley is 10 for 22, .455 over his last seven games and has driven in six runs in his last three games.

- Kevin Coddington is 10 for 25, .400 over his last seven games.

- Frank Pfister is 5 for 14, .357 over his last four games.

- Carlos Mendez is 5 for 11, .455 in the three games he has played since joining the club on Friday.

- Matt Fairel is second in the league in strikeouts with 24 and leads the league in innings pitched with 20.2.

Honors: Dayton starting pitcher Matt Fairel has been named MWL Pitcher of the Week for the week of April 20-26. Fairel went 1-0 with a 1.38 earned run average. He allowed just two runs in 13 innings and struck out 20 batters. He gave up only nine hits and two walks. On April 21st, Fairel came within two strikeouts of the Dragons club record when he struck out 12 Great Lakes batters over a six-inning performance. Fairel followed that outing with his first professional victory on Sunday, April 26th at South Bend when he allowed only one run in seven innings, striking out eight and walking one while giving up five hits.

Team Notes

- A Dragons win in game one tonight would give the club wins in consecutive games for the first time this season.

- The Dragons are batting .263 as a team over their last eight games after batting .222 over their first eight games.

- Dragons starting pitchers are a combined 2-8, 6.04. The #1 and #2 starters (Fairel, Ravin) and spot starter Lance Janke have a combined ERA of 2.43 as starters. The 3, 4, and 5 starters in the rotation are a combined 0-7, 10.58. They have allowed 43 runs in 32.1 innings.

- Six of the Dragons' 13 losses have come by one run. However, five losses have come by at least six runs including three losses by at least 10 runs.

- The Dragons have led by at least two runs in six of their 13 losses.

- The Dragons current roster includes seven players who have previously played for the club. They are pitchers Curtis Partch, Andrew Bowman, Aguido Gonzalez, Josh Ravin, and Mace Thurman; infielder Humberto Sosa, and outfielder Brandon Menchaca.

- The Dragons roster includes 19 players who played last season with the Billings Mustangs, the Reds Rookie-level affiliate. The Billings team posted a record of 42-32 and won both the first half and second half North Division titles in the Pioneer League.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Wednesday (7:30 p.m.): Dayton RH Oscar Castro (0-1, 7.50) at Beloit TBA

Thursday (7:30 p.m.): Dayton RH Leonardo Astorga (0-3, 18.90) at Beloit TBA

Friday (7:30 p.m.): Dayton LH Matt Fairel (1-1, 2.61) at Beloit TBA

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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