Sports stats



MWL1 Dayton Dragons

Vasquez Belts HR, Drives in 5 in Dragons 6-2 Win

May 13, 2016 - Midwest League (MWL1)
Dayton Dragons News Release


Dayton, Ohio - James Vasquez blasted a home run and drove in five runs to lead the Dayton Dragons to a 6-2 victory over the Great Lakes Loons on Friday night. A crowd of 8,714, the largest of the year for the Dragons, saw the game at Fifth Third Field.

Vasquez, who had belted a home run in the series opener on Thursday, produced the Dragons top RBI total for a game since Narciso Crook drove in five runs on September 2, 2015.

"I was seeing it pretty good tonight," said Vasquez. "I was just trying to simplify things, put good swings on good pitches, and I got good results."

The Dragons trailed 2-1 when they took the lead for good with a big inning in the fifth. Dayton's Zack Shields singled through the middle with two outs and the bases empty. Shed Long followed with a single to left, and Vasquez followed with a drive into the seats beyond the right field fence to give the Dragons a 4-2 lead. It was Vasquez's fourth home run of the season as he took over the team lead.

In the seventh, Vasquez came through again. After an infield single by Luis Gonzalez and a double by Shields that moved Gonzalez to third, Vasquez delivered a two-run single to center field to make it 6-2.

Great Lakes scored in the first to take a 1-0 lead before the Dragons tied the game in the second. Dayton's Tyler Stephenson reached on an infield single off the pitcher. He eventually scored from second base on a two-out single from Luis Gonzalez. Great Lakes jumped back in front in the fourth on a solo home run by Logan Landon, his first of the year.

Dragons starting pitcher Tanner Rainey worked four innings, allowing two runs on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

Manuel Aybar followed Rainey and worked two scoreless innings, allowing one hit with two walks and three strikeouts. Aybar has allowed just two runs over his last 10 relief appearances covering 13.2 innings.

Mike Sullivan pitched a scoreless seventh inning before Arial Hernandez came on to work the final two innings. Hernandez, who leads all of Single-A baseball (five leagues, 60 teams) in opponent's batting average, did not allow a hit while striking out four. Opponents are now 4 for 64 against Hernandez on the season.

The Dragons collected 11 hits in the game. Vasquez and Shields each had three hits while Gonzalez had two.

The Dragons did not commit an error in what may have been their best all-around game of the 2016 season to date.

The Dragons (8-27) meet the Loons (14-18) in the third game of the series at Fifth Third Field on Saturday at 7:00 p.m. Jesus Reyes (0-0, 3.00) will make his first start of the season for the Dragons against Great Lakes' Garrett Harrison (0-2, 3.86).

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.

Notes: The Dragons received infielder Gavin LaValley from Daytona before the game and sent outfielder Jose Siri back to extended spring training in Goodyear, Arizona. LaValley had been on the disabled list all season due to a strained hamstring. He spent all of 2015 with the Dragons, appearing in 125 games.

Check out the Dayton Dragons Statistics

• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board...

Midwest League Stories from May 13, 2016


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.

OurSports Central