MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

Published on July 31, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, July 31, 2009 n Game # 103 (33)

Fifth Third Field Dayton, Ohio 7:07 p.m.

Radio: WING 1410 AM "ESPN Radio"

Television: WHIO Digital Channel 7.2

Burlington Bees (14-18, 43-59) at Dayton Dragons (14-18, 42-60)

RH Manauris Baez (5-4, 3.57) vs. RH Curtis Partch (8-7, 4.67)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the Burlington Bees (affiliate of the Kansas City Royals) in the first game of a three-game series. This is game three of a nine-game home stand for Dayton.

Season Series: Dayton 2, Burlington 1 (first three games in Burlington).

Dayton on the Current Home Stand: 0-2 (Team Batting Average: .265; Team ERA: 8.00).

Last Game: The Dragons and the Peoria Chiefs were rained-out on Thursday night. The game will not be made up. Peoria won both games played in the series.

Note: Since last night's game did not go the required five innings to become an official game, all statistics from last night's game are deleted.

Today's Dragons Starting Pitcher: Curtis Partch makes his 20th start of the season for the Dragons tonight. He has won his last four starts including his most recent start Sunday at Kane County (6.0 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO). Patch is 4-1, 2.32 in five starts in July. He beat Burlington on May 25th (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO). Partch returns to the Dragons after going 5-11, 5.00 with the club in 2008 when he spent the entire season and post-season on the Dayton active roster. Partch is a native of Merced, California and played at Merced Junior College. He was drafted by the Reds in the 26th round in 2007. Partch finished strong in 2008, posting a 2.78 ERA over his final 10 games (four starts) over the last six weeks of the season. Partch was the Reds Pitcher of the Year in their 2008 Florida Instructional League program.

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

- Miguel Rojas is batting .423 in his last 21 games (30 for 71) and is hitting .366 in the second half.

- Byron Wiley is batting .349 with 12 doubles, two triples, nine HR, and 38 RBI in his last 34 games since June 14, posting a slugging percentage of .683 and raising his batting average from .211 to .276. Wiley is batting .352 in the second half. Wiley also has an 11 game hitting streak.

- Carlos Mendez has hit in 12 straight games, going 20 for 52, .385.

- Kevin Coddington is batting .333 over his last 42 games.

Team Notes

- The Dragons are 7-4 over their last 11 games but they have lost three straight. In all four losses over the last 11 games, the Dragons were tied or leading in the ninth inning.

- After 32 of 69 games in the second half, the Dragons are two and one-half games behind Great Lakes for the second (final) seed in the 2nd half playoff race.

- The Dragons are 11-16 in July with a team batting average of .274 and a team ERA of 5.21.

- The Dragons have lost 30 games this season in which they held a lead during the game. They have come from behind to win 14 games.

Team Batting Notes

- The Dragons are batting .279 in the second half (32 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

- During the Dragons 7-4 stretch, they are batting .291 as a team and averaging 5.5 runs per game.

Team Pitching Notes

- During the Dragons 7-4 stretch, the team ERA is 3.61. 25 percent of the total runs allowed during the 11 games came in the 9th inning Wed. night.

- Dayton relief pitchers had allowed only three earned runs in their last 32.2 innings prior to allowing 10 earned runs in the 9th Wed. night.

- Over the last 11 games, Dayton starting pitchers have posted a 3.39 ERA. They have not allowed more than three earned runs in any start.

- The Dragons second half team ERA is 4.76. The first half ERA was 4.50.

- Dayton Starting Pitchers: Date Range W-L, ERA Team Record

Opening Night-May 15: 4-14, 5.87 9-25

May 16-June 12: 10-6, 2.75 15-12

June 12-July 17: 8-13, 5.66 11-19

July 18-present: 5-0, 3.39 7-4

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Saturday (7:07 p.m.): Dayton RH Oscar Castro (2-3, 6.95) vs. Burlington LH Ivor Hodgson (0-1, 12.60)

Sunday (4:00 p.m.): Dayton RH Mark Serrano (0-0, 2.77) vs. Burlington RH Sam Runion (3-7, 6.55)

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

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Midwest League Stories from July 31, 2009


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