MWL Dayton Dragons

Stewart Blasts Home Run; 3 Dayton Pitchers Combine on 4-Hit Shutout in 2-0 Dragons' Win

May 24, 2024 - Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Davenport, Iowa - Dayton's Sal Stewart hit the first pitch of the game for a home run and pitchers Johnathan Harmon, Joseph Menefee, and Andrew Moore combined on a four-hit shutout as the Dragons defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 2-0 on Friday night. The Dragons have won three of the first four games in the six-game series.

Game Recap:

Sal Stewart blasted the game's first pitch for his third home run of the season, giving the Dragons all the offense they would need. Dayton scored again in the third inning when Stewart walked, stole second, and scored on a single to right field by Hector Rodriguez to make it 2-0.

Meanwhile, Dayton starting pitcher Johnathan Harmon enjoyed his best outing of the year, tossing five dominant innings. He allowed just two hits, both singles, with no walks and four strikeouts. He faced only one batter over the minimum and allowed only one runner to reach second base.

Joseph Menefee replaced Harmon to begin the sixth and gave up a hit and a walk, but he pitched out of trouble to strand two runners, getting two strikeouts in the inning. Menefee gave up a lead-off single in the seventh and was replaced by Andrew Moore, who threw a wild pitch and committed a balk to push the runner to third with no one out. But Moore dominated over the rest of his outing. He worked out of trouble in the seventh, pitched a perfect eighth, and battled through a one-out walk in the ninth to close out the game. Moore struck out five without allowing a hit over his three scoreless innings. Dayton first baseman Cade Hunter made a diving catch on a broken bat soft line drive to end the game with the tying run at the plate.

The Dragons closed to within three games of first place in the East Division standings. Dayton is 8-3 over their last 11 games. With a win on Saturday, they would get back to the .500 mark for the first time since they were 6-6 on April 18.

The Dragons collected eight hits. Leo Balcazar was 3 for 4 with three singles. Stewart had two hits and scored both runs. Rodriguez had his fourth straight 2-hit game and is 8 for 17 in the series.

Note: The game featured two separate rain delays totaling one hour, 18 minutes.

Up Next: The Dragons (21-22) battle the River Bandits (20-23) in the fifth game of the six-game set on Saturday at 7:00 pm (EDT). T.J. Sikkema (1-1, 5.40) will start for Dayton against Henry Williams (1-1, 4.64) of Quad Cities.

The next Dragons home game is Tuesday, June 4 at 7:05 pm against the Lansing Lugnuts at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. For ticket information, go to daytondragons.com/tickets or call (937) 228-2287.

On the Air: All Dragons home and road games are broadcast on radio on FOX Sports 980 AM WONE. Games can be heard on smart phones, iPads, and other mobile devices via the free Dragons Mobile App, or on a computer at wone.com. Games are also available on HD Radio on 104.7 WTUI HD 2.

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Midwest League Stories from May 24, 2024


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