MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

Published on May 12, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Game # 31

Fifth Third Field Dayton, Ohio 7:00 p.m.

Radio: 1410 ESPN Radio WING-AM

West Michigan Whitecaps (20-9) at Dayton Dragons (8-22)

LH Matt Hoffman (4-0, 0.84) vs. RH J.C. Sulbaran (0-0, 6.00)

Today's Game: The Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the first game of a four-game series and game seven of a 10-game home stand for Dayton. Season Series: No previous meetings between the clubs.

Dayton on the Current Home Stand: 2-4 (Lost two of three to Clinton; lost two of three to Kane County).

Last Game: Sunday: Kane County 18, Dayton 3. Kane County pounded out 20 hits including eight doubles , building a 10-0 lead over the first five innings on the way to taking two of three in the series.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: J.C. Sulbaran makes his third professional start tonight for Dayton. Sulbaran started Wednesday vs. Clinton and was not involved in the decision in a game that Dayton went on to win. His line: 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO). He had been in extended spring training in Sarasota due to a blister problem on his right (pitching) hand. Sulbaran has pitched in some big international games. He appeared in two games for Team Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic and started a game for the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing against Cuba. Sulbaran moved from the island of Curacao in the Caribbean to the Miami area with his family at age 16 to further baseball career. He was honored as the Miami-area pitcher of the year in 2008, going 11-0, 1.40. He fell to the 30th round of the 2008 draft due to his commitment to the University of Florida but the Reds eventually signed him with a $500,000 bonus, a record for that round. He was voted the best pitcher in the 2004 Latin American Youth Baseball Tournament while playing for the Netherlands Antilles. He was rated by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in Reds organization prior to 2009 season. His high school teammates included first baseman Eric Hosmer, who was selected with the third pick in the first round of the 2008 draft by the Kansas City Royals, and catcher Adrian Nieto, taken in the fifth round by the Washington Nationals.

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

- Shortstop Miguel Rojas has hit in eight straight games, going 10 for 28, .357 with a home run, raising batting average from .133 to .205.

- Infielder Carlos Mendez is 9 for 23, .391 with a home run over his last six games and is batting .327 on the year.

- Kevin Coddington has enjoyed nine multi-hit games among the 17 games he has played in. He is batting .353.

Team Notes

- The Dragons are 2-4 on the current home stand. Both wins have come in games that were tied going to the seventh inning. In both games, the opponent scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead, and in both games, the Dragons scored four runs in the bottom of the seventh to go on to win.

- The Dragons are averaging 4.4 runs per game in May after averaging 3.4 runs per game in April.

- The Dragons are 7-10 over their last 17 games after starting the season 1-12.

- In 16 of the Dragons 30 games this season, the eventual winning team trailed at some point during the game. The Dragons have trailed in five of their eight wins while their opponent has come from behind to win 11 games.

- Eight of the Dragons' 22 losses have come by one run. The Dragons are 2-8 in one-run games. However, seven losses have come by at least six runs including four losses by at least 10 runs. The Dragons have allowed 14+ runs in three games this season.

- The Dragons have led by at least two runs in eight of their 22 losses and have led at some point in 11 of the 22.

- The Dragons are 4-6 in games in which they had the lead at the end of the fifth inning. Eight of the other 13 MWL teams have lost two times or less this season when leading at the end of five and no other teams have lost more than four times in those games.

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

- The Dragons roster includes 17 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 (7:00 p.m.): Dayton LH Matt Fairel (1-2, 3.45) vs. West Michigan LH Casey Crosby (2-0, 2.73)

Thursday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Josh Ravin (1-3, 4.99) vs. West Michigan RH Luke Putkonen (1-1, 2.48)

Friday (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Curtis Partch (1-2, 6.35) vs. West Michigan LH Mauricio Robles (2-1, 2.56)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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