Dragons Clinch Series With 5-2 Win Over Hot Rods
Dayton, Ohio - Bowling Green (2-6) saw an 18-inning scoreless streak come to an end, but could not snap its losing streak, as the Dayton Dragons (5-3) scored the final four runs of a 5-2 win over the Hot Rods in front of a sellout crowd of 8,015 at Fifth Third Field Thursday night.
With the loss, the Hot Rods have dropped three in a row for the first time this season, while the Dragons have now won four in a row and 14 of the last 18 meetings between the teams.
Dayton wasted no time getting on the scoreboard, scoring with two outs in the bottom of the opening frame to take a 1-0 lead, when Aristides Aquino doubled down the left-field line off Greg Harris bringing home Wendell Soto, who opened the inning with a walk.
After that, Harris matched zeroes with Dayton starter Wyatt Strahan until the sixth inning, when Thomas Milone reached on a leadoff infield single and Riley Unroe cracked a 3-1 pitch over the left-field fence for his first home run of the year - and the first allowed by Dayton - accounting for Bowling Green's first lead of the series, 2-1.
Dayton would not trail for long, though, as Gavin LaValley doubled with one out, and Aquino drew a walk. After a lineout to centerfield, Brian O'Grady - who had started the year just 2-for-24 - hammered the first offering from Harris to the left-centerfield alley to score both LaValley and Aquino for a two-run double and give the Dragons a 3-2 advantage.
Harris (0-2) exited after the sixth after allowing three runs on five hits while issuing two walks and striking out five.
The Dragons added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning against Mike Franco in upping the lead to 5-2. With runners at second and third and only one out, Bowling Green brought the infield in against Avain Rachal, who hit a tapper towards Cristian Toribio at shortstop to score Ronald Bueno, but the throw to first bounced wide of Casey Gillaspie to score LaValley as well, giving the Dragons the three-run cushion.
Strahan (2-0) recorded the victory for Dayton, allowing five hits and just the two runs on Unroe's home run over a career-high six innings of work, striking out three and walking one. Jeremy Kivel hummed a perfect seventh, Brian Hunter did the same in the eighth, and Alejandro Chacin got three groundouts in the ninth notch his first save of the season and 30th of his Dayton career.
Bralin Jackson finished with two of the Hot Rods' five hits, increasing his personal hitting streak to five games in the process.
Bowling Green looks to salvage the series finale in the last of the nine-game season-opening road trip Friday night set for a 6 p.m. first pitch, with right-hander Hyrum Formo (0-0, 4.50) toeing the rubber against Dayton right-hander Tejay Antone (0-1, 5.40).
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