Sports stats



MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

July 3, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, July 3, 2009 Game # 78 (8)

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

Radio: WING 1410 AM "ESPN Radio"

Fort Wayne TinCaps (6-1, 51-26) at Dayton Dragons (3-4, 31-46)

RH Erik Davis (6-3, 4.35) vs. LH Matt Fairel (5-3, 2.96)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the finale of a four game series. Season Series: Fort Wayne 13, Dayton 1. (At Dayton: TinCaps 2, Dragons 1).

About Fort Wayne: The TinCaps won the Eastern Division First Half title to qualify for post-season play. They are 28-2 vs. Dayton and South Bend; 23-24 vs. the other 11 MWL teams.

Last Game: Fort Wayne defeated Dayton 3-1. The TinCaps have won two of three games so far in the series. Drew Cumberland hit a solo home run in the first inning and four TinCaps pitchers combined to scatter seven hits. Dayton's Kevin Coddington had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 10 straight games. The TinCaps did not score after the second inning but kept the Dragons from producing much offense. Dayton had only three at-bats in the game with men in scoring position, going 0 for 3.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Midwest League All-Star Matt Fairel makes his 15th professional start tonight. His last start was Saturday, June 27th at Lansing when he earned a victory (6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO). Fairel pitched one perfect inning in the All-Star Game at Clinton. Fairel was the Midwest League Pitcher of the week for April 20-26 (1-0, 1.38, 13 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 20 SO). Fairel was selected by the Reds in the 35th round in June, 2008 but did not sign in time to play professionally last summer. Fairel was drafted after his sophomore year at Florida State University (eligible to be drafted because he turned 21 years old within 30 days of the draft). Fairel enjoyed a great college season last spring at Florida State, posting a record of 12-2 (second in ACC in victories). He was honored as a 2nd Team All-Conference choice and was also named Academic All-Conference.

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

- Kevin Coddington is batting .370 over his last 20 games and has hit safely in 10 straight games. Coddington has two hits in five straight games. Over his last 20 games, Coddington has raised his average from .281 to .310.

- Byron Wiley is batting .333 with four doubles, a triple, three HR, and 15 RBI in his last 10 games, posting a slugging percentage of .718.

- In 12 games with the Dragons since joining the club, Mike Konstanty is batting .348 with three HR, three 3B, and 14 RBI.

- Kevyn Feiner is batting .385 over his last eight games.

Team Notes

- The Dragons are 22-21 over their last 43 games. They are 30-34 over their last 64 games after starting the season 1-12.

- Nineteen of the Dragons 39 road games this season have been one-run games. They are 5-14 in one-run road games.

- Seventeen of the Dragons' 46 losses have come by one run. The Dragons are 9-17 in one-run games overall.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .292 as a team over the last 15 games, averaging 5.3 runs per game.

- The Dragons are batting .292 in the seven games in the second half.

Team Pitching Notes

- From Opening Night (April 9) through May 15, Dragons starting pitchers were a combined 4-14 with a 5.87 ERA. Since May 15th, Dragons starting pitchers are 15-12 with a 3.63 ERA.

- The Dragons have posted a 3.45 ERA as a team in their last 43 games.

- The Dragons have a second half team ERA of 3.25.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Saturday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Curtis Partch (4-6, 5.67) at West Michigan LH Casey Crosby (6-2, 3.39)

Sunday (2:00 p.m.): Dayton RH J.C. Sulbaran (2-1, 4.21) at West Michigan RH Brandon Hamilton (3-3, 6.37)

Monday (7:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Oscar Castro (2-2, 6.47) at West Michigan RH Brayan Villarreal (2-2, 1.04)

Tuesday (12:00 noon): Dayton RH Lance Janke (4-4, 3.55) at West Michigan RH Mark Sorensen (3-2, 3.04)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from July 3, 2009


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.

OurSports Central