Dragons Compete Sweep of Series in Lansing

Dragons 8, Lansing 6

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Dayton, Ohio-The Dayton Dragons broke a 6-6 tie with two runs in the top of the ninth inning and held on to defeat the Lansing Lugnuts 8-6 on Thursday night. The win gave the Dragons a sweep of the three-game series. They have won the last four games overall.

The Dragons held a 6-0 lead after four innings before Lansing roared back with six runs in the fifth to tie the game, but Dragons relievers Joel Bender and Alejandro Chacin shutout the Lugnuts over the rest of the night.

The Dragons winning rally began when Tanner Rahier tripled off the glove of Lansing center fielder D.J. Davis with one out. After Jon Matthews was intentionally walked, Rahier scored on a wild pitch to give the Dragons a 7-6 lead, and Matthews went to second. Gabriel Rosa followed with a line drive single to left field to drive in Matthews and make it 8-6.

Chacin allowed a lead-off triple in the bottom of the ninth but retired the next three and notched his 14th save. Chacin has earned nine saves in the month of July, allowing just one run in the month over 15.1 innings.

Bender (6-2) enjoyed his best outing of the season, retiring all nine batters he faced to earn the win. He struck out four.

The Dragons scored two runs in the first inning and three more in the second to take an early 5-0 lead. They added another run in the fourth. Matthews had three hits over the game's first four innings including a first inning run-scoring single and an RBI double in the fourth. He is 6 for 8 since coming off the disabled list on Wednesday. 

Rosa and Jose Ortiz had two hits for the Dragons and Robert Ramirez delivered a two-run single. The Dragons finished with 12 hits.

The Dragons (19-20) return home to host the South Bend Silver Hawks (23-16) on Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field in the opener of a three-game series and six-game homestand. Dayton's Amir Garrett (4-6, 3.75) will oppose South Bend's Sean Furney (7-5, 4.20).   

All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at wone.com and through the Dragons Mobile App.