Burns Pitches Well but Dragons Fall to Fort Wayne, 5-1 on Friday

Fort Wayne 5, Dragons 1

Click here for the box score

Fort Wayne (R-H-E): 5-7-0; Dayton (R-H-E): 1-4-1

Win: Enmanuel Pinales (1-0); Loss: Chase Burns (0-1); Save: None

HR: Dayton: None HR: Fort Wayne: None

Dayton, Ohio—Four Fort Wayne pitchers combined to allow only four hits as the TinCaps defeated the Dayton Dragons 5-1 on Friday night.

A crowd of 8,159 was in attendance at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District.

Reds top prospect Chase Burns started the game for Dayton and pitched well but was charged with the loss. Burns threw 61 pitches over three and two-thirds innings. He allowed two hits and one run with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Game Summary:

Fort Wayne took the lead in the top of the first inning when Brandon Butterworth walked to lead off the game and scored from first base on a one-out double to right field by Brendan Durfee. Chase Burns settled in over the remainder of his outing, retiring 10 of the 12 batters he faced after Durfee’s double with seven strikeouts in the game. He left the game after throwing his 61^st pitch as he struck out Ethan Long for the second out of the fourth inning. Brody Jessee replaced Burns to get the final out in the fourth.

Trailing 1-0, the Dragons had a great chance to tie the game or take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. They loaded the bases with no outs as Yerlin Confidan walked, Leo Balcazar singled to center, and Carlos Jorge walked. But Ariel Almonte struck out and Ricardo Cabrera grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Fort Wayne scored three runs in the sixth and added one more in the seventh to extend their lead to 5-0.

The Dragons scored their only run in the eighth inning when Victor Acosta singled, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Connor Burns.

The four Dayton hits in the game were all singles by four different players. Three of the four hits came in the eighth and ninth innings.

Brian Edgington gave the Dragons a strong effort in a long relief role. He worked three and two-thirds innings, allowing one run on three hits with one walk and three strikeouts.

Notes: Including the outing by Burns on Friday night, Dayton starting pitchers have worked 29.2 innings on the season while allowing just three runs, an ERA of 0.91.

Up Next: The Dragons (2-5) host Fort Wayne (4-3) in the fifth game of the six-game series on Saturday afternoon at 1:05 pm. Adam Serwinowski will make his second start for the Dragons after tossing three scoreless innings on Sunday at West Michigan. Fort Wayne will counter with Isaiah Lowe. Both Serwinowski and Lowe are ranked among the top-20 prospects in their respective organizations. For ticket information, go to daytondragons.com/tickets.

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.