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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons GameDay

September 4, 2009 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Friday, September 4, 2009 Game # 136 (66)

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

Radio: WING 1410 AM "ESPN Radio"

South Bend Silver Hawks (30-36, 57-77) at Dayton Dragons (30-35, 58-77)

RH Eric Smith (0-0, 2.61) vs. RH Chase Ware (1-1, 4.43)

Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) host the South Bend Silver Hawks (affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks) in the last game of a three-game series. Season Series: South Bend 7, Dayton 7, (At Dayton: Dayton 5, South Bend 1).

Dayton in This Series: 2-0 (Team Batting Average: .362; Team ERA: 3.50).

The Race: Dayton will qualify as the wildcard entry in the Eastern Division Second Half race by finishing ahead of South Bend and Lansing in the second half standings. Entering tonight's games, Dayton is one-half game ahead of South Bend for the spot with four games to play. Lansing has been eliminated.

Club W-L GA/B

Dayton 30-35 ---

South Bend 30-36 -0.5

Playoff Possibilities: The Dragons "magic number" to reach the playoffs is four (any combination of Dayton wins and South Bend losses totaling four would put the Dragons in the playoffs). If the Dragons win tonight, the magic number would reduce by three as Dayton would clinch the tie-breaker, leaving the Dragons with a magic number of one. South Bend's "magic number" is five. Their magic number would reduce by three with a win tonight as that win would give them the tie-breaker. A South Bend win would cut their magic number to two. Note that the tie-breaker is the head-to-head season series, which is tied going into tonight's games. The team that wins tonight will reduce their magic number by three because of the tie-breaker advantage.

Clinching Scenarios: Dayton has three possible routes to the playoffs:

1) Win tonight, then win one game vs. Great Lakes OR get one South Bend loss in their two remaining games vs. Lansing.

2) Lose tonight, then win all three games at Great Lakes AND get one South Bend loss in their two remaining games vs. Lansing.

3) Lose tonight, then win two of three games at Great Lakes AND get two South Bend losses in their two remaining games vs. Lansing.

Last Game: Dayton defeated South Bend for the second straight night on Thursday, winning 5-3. Carlos Mendez had three hits and three runs batted in for Dayton. Kevin Coddington hit a home run for the second consecutive night, and Alex Oliveras had two hits and scored two runs. Dayton starting pitcher J.C. Sulbaran earned the win with six innings of five-hit baseball, allowing three runs with two walks and five strikeouts. Mike Bohana tossed two scoreless innings for the save, allowing only one base runner on a bad hop double.

Today's Starting Pitcher: Chase Ware makes his second professional start for the Dragons tonight. His first start came on August 14th vs. West Michigan and he suffered the loss (4 IP, 8 H, 7 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO). Ware last pitched on Monday vs. Lansing (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO). Over Ware's last three outings, he has tossed six scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. He pitched out of the bullpen six times earlier this season with the GCL Reds, going 1-1, 4.50. Ware was signed as a 2009 non-drafted free agent by the Reds out of Arkansas State University. This spring, Ware went 5-3, 4.22 as a starter at ASU. He was a 2nd Team All-Sun Belt Conference selection as a junior in 2008 when he went 5-6, 3.57 and finished third in the conference in ERA.

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.

Individual Notes

- Alex Oliveras is batting .350 over his last 26 games with 2 HR, 14 RBI, and 20 R.

- Humberto Sosa is batting .359 over his last 22 games.

- Tony Brown is batting .368 over his last 10 games.

- Miguel Rojas has hit safely in six straight games, batting .429.

- Cody Puckett has a five-game hitting streak, batting .400.

Team Notes

- The Dragons have won four of their last five games since losing six straight.

Team Batting Notes

- Dayton is batting .327 in the six games on this home stand after batting .202 in the four games at South Bend.

- The Dragons are batting .276 in the second half (65 games) after batting .250 in the first half (70 games).

Team Pitching Notes

- The Dragons second half team ERA is 4.34. The first half ERA was 4.50.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (All game times are Dayton time)

Saturday (7:05 p.m.): Dayton LH Ezequiel Infante (2-1, 2.85) at Great Lakes TBA

Sunday (3:05 p.m.): Dayton LH Shea Snowden (1-0, 4.18) at Great Lakes TBA

Monday (3:05 p.m.): Dayton TBA at Great Lakes TBA

End of Regular Season

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics



Midwest League Stories from September 4, 2009


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