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MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Dragons Split Suspended Doubleheader with Captains on Tuesday

May 22, 2018 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio - Jeter Downs singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive in Hendrik Clementina from second base and give the Dayton Dragons a 5-4 victory over the Lake County Captains in the first game of a suspended game on Tuesday night. The Captains came back to win the second game, 2-1. Attendance was 7,396 at Fifth Third Field.

The first game started on Monday night and was suspended by rain with the score tied 2-2 in the fifth inning. John Sansone had a two-run home run for Dayton in the second inning on Monday. After the game resumed on Tuesday, Clementina blasted a two-run home run to right field in the seventh inning to give the Dragons a brief 4-2 lead. The home run moved Clementina into a tie for the league lead in homers. But Lake County responded with a pair of solo home runs in the eighth to tie the score at 4-4, setting the stage for the Dragons ninth inning heroics.

Clementina opened the ninth by reaching on a single to short right field and went to second on a one-out bloop hit to center by Jose Garcia. Downs followed with a line drive single toward left-center field. Clementina was held at third by Dragons third base coach Kevin Mahar, but he ran through the stop sign and tried to score. The throw from the outfield was high and Clementina slid in before the tag to end the game.

The win was the third walk-off victory of the year for the Dragons. Downs has delivered the game-winning hit in all three games.

The Dragons finished with 12 hits in the game. Clementina and Miles Gordon each had three, while Sansone and Jose Garcia had two.

In the regularly-scheduled game, Lake County's Jonathan Laureano hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning before Downs opened the bottom of the first with a homer. It was Downs' sixth home run of the year and his fourth as the first batter in the first inning.

The score was still tied going the seventh inning of a scheduled seven-inning game. Lake County's Oscar Gonzalez hit a one-out home run to center field to give the Captains a 2-1 lead, and the Dragons went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, all on strikeouts, as the Captains earned a split. The Dragons had just two hits in game two.

Dragons second game starting pitcher Wendolyn Bautista (2-3) suffered the loss. He worked six and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on seven hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Notes: Downs accomplished a true baseball rarity on Tuesday. He was his team's batter in two consecutive plate appearances in the same day, and drove in a run in both. He ended the first game with the walk-off RBI single. Then, as the Dragons lead-off batter, opened game two with a home run.

In the Standings: The Dragons are 22-21, in fourth place, six games behind first place Lansing and five games behind Bowling Green, the wildcard leader, in the Midwest League East Division.

Up Next: The Dragons and Captains meet again in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field. Tyler Mondile (1-3, 7.51) will start for Dayton. Mondile is coming off a seven-inning one-hit shutout in his last start on Friday night against Great Lakes that earned him the Midwest League Pitcher of the Week honor. Lake County's starting pitcher will be Kirk McCarty (1-3, 7.61).

Game Broadcast: All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE and on the internet at wone.com. Games are also available on the Dayton Dragons mobile app.

For Dragons 2018 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.

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Midwest League Stories from May 22, 2018


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