Eastlake, Ohio-Lake County's Mitch Reeves drove in the winning run with a bases loaded hit to deep center field with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Captains came from behind to defeat the Dayton Dragons 7-6. The Dragons closed out the road trip with a
Eastlake, Ohio-Lake County's Mitch Reeves drove in the winning run with a bases loaded hit to deep center field with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the Captains came from behind to defeat the Dayton Dragons 7-6. The Dragons closed out the road trip with a 2-4 record and will return home to meet Great Lakes on Thursday. The record on the year fell to 7-12 with the loss.
The Dragons took a 4-3 lead to the bottom of the eighth inning, carried a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth, and led 6-5 going to the bottom of the 10th, but Lake County battled back to score in every inning to take two-out-of-three in the series.
With the score tied 5-5 after nine innings, the Dragons went to extra innings for the first time in 2019. The scored one run in the top of the 10th when Jay Schuyler lined a single to left-center field to bring in free runner Michael Siani from second base. But Lake County quickly tied the game in the bottom of the 10th on a run-scoring single from Jose Fermin that left runners at first and second with no one out against Dragons reliever Connor Bennett. After a strikeout for the first out of the inning and an infield single that loaded the bases, Reeves drove a fly ball over the head of Siani in center field to end the game.
The Dragons took a 2-0 lead in the second inning, getting back-to-back two-out, run-scoring singles from Miguel Hernandez and Juan Martinez. Lake County scored three in the fifth to take a 3-2 lead before the Dragons scored two in the top of the eighth to lead 4-3. Schuyler drove in the tying run with a single to bring in Mariel Bautista, and Shard Munroe's sacrifice fly brought in Siani to give the Dragons the lead. Lake County scored in the bottom of the eighth to tie the game.
In the top of the ninth, Hernandez singled, went to second on Martinez's sacrifice, and scored on a two-out error to give the Dragons a 5-4 lead. But Lake County tied the game in the bottom of the ninth against Dragons reliever Andy Cox, taking advantage of an error that led to an unearned run.
Dragons starting pitcher Lyon Richardson fired scoreless baseball for the first four innings before running into problems in the fifth. Richardson left the game after four and one-third innings, allowing three runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Matt Pidich made his Dragons debut in relief of Richardson. He entered the game with a runner at second base and one out in the fifth and retired both batters he faced to end the threat, then pitched a scoreless sixth inning.
Eddy Demurias pitched the seventh and the eighth, allowing one run on three hits. Cox surrendered the run in the ninth and Bennett (0-2) was charged with the loss after giving up two runs in the 10th.
The Dragons finished with nine hits. Schuyler led the way, going 3 for 5 with two runs batted in. Hernandez and Martinez each had two hits.
Transactions: The Dragons received starting pitcher Ricky Salinas and reliever Matt Pidich from extended spring training in Goodyear, Arizona on Wednesday. Pidich appeared in the game on Wednesday afternoon, while Salinas will start on Friday night. Starting pitcher Jacob Heatherly was placed on the disabled list with shoulder tightness. Reliever Adrian Rodriguez was sent to extended spring training.
Up Next: The Dragons (7-12) open a four-game home series at Fifth Third Field against the Great Lakes Loons (7-11) on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. Jared Solomon (0-1, 5.25) will start for Dayton against Jeronimo Castro (1-1, 1.38). The series will continue through Sunday.
On the Air: All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE AM. 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. All Saturday and Sunday home games are televised on Dayton's CW (channel 26; Spectrum cable channels 13 and 1013).
For Dragons 2019 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.
