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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

July 6, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Monday, July 6, 2009 Game # 81 (11)

Fifth Third Park Comstock Park, Mich. 7:00 p.m.

Radio: WING 1410 AM "ESPN Radio"

Dayton Dragons (3-7, 31-49) at West Michigan Whitecaps (7-3, 50-30)

RH Oscar Castro (2-2, 6.47) vs. RH Brayan Villarreal (2-2, 1.04)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the third game of a four game series. Season Series: West Michigan 7, Dayton 3. (At WM: Whitecaps 2, Dragons 0).

Last Game: In a game that saw four Dragons franchise records tied or broken, West Michigan defeated Dayton 20-11. Byron Wiley hit three home runs and drove in six runs for the Dragons. West Michigan scored 13 runs in the bottom of the first inning as they sent 17 batters to the plate and took advantage of seven Dayton walks in the inning. The Dragons eventually pulled to within four at 13-9 but could get no closer. Bryan Pounds drove in six runs for West Michigan. Kyle Day also homered for the Dragons.

Records: Wiley joined Wily Mo Pena and Juan Francisco as players with three home runs in a game in Dragons history...The 13 runs in the first by West Michigan was a record for most runs in an inning by a Dragons opponent...The seven walks in the first was a Dragons record for most walks in an inning. The record was broken before the first out in the inning was recorded...The 31 runs between the two teams tied a Dragons club record for combined runs in a game...Wiley came within one RBI and one total base of matching Dragons club records in those departments...The four homers for the Dragons was the most in a game since July 30, 2008.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Oscar Castro makes his 18th Midwest League appearance and ninth start tonight. In his last appearance Wednesday vs. Fort Wayne, Castro was not involved in the decision (3 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 SO). Castro is a 20-year-old native of Mexico. He was signed as a free agent by the Reds in December of 2005 at the age of 16. Castro spent the 2008 season at Billings, going 4-2, 4.14 in 13 starts. He walked only 18 batters in 67 innings.

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 batting .383 with four doubles, a triple, six HR, and 21 RBI in his last 12 games, posting a slugging percentage of .894.

- Kevin Coddington is batting .337 over his last 23 games, raising his average from .281 to .299.

- Andrew Means is batting .323 over his last 17 games.

- Miguel Rojas is batting .306 in the second half.

Team Notes

- Dayton has lost five straight games.

- The Dragons are 22-24 over their last 46 games. They are 30-37 over their last 67 games after starting the season 1-12.

- Nineteen of the Dragons 41 road games this season have been one-run games. They are 5-14 in one-run road games.

- The Dragons are 0-41 this season when trailing at the end of the seventh inning.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .282 as a team over the last 18 games.

- The Dragons lead the league in July home runs with six.

- The Dragons are batting .274 in the second half (10 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

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 15-15 with a 3.88 ERA.

- The Dragons have posted a 3.88 ERA as a team in their last 46 games.

- The Dragons second half team ERA jumped from 3.58 to 5.34 yesterday.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

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 6, 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.

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