Dragons Fall in Extra Innings to Fort Wayne in Series Finale Sunday, 5-3

Fort Wayne 5, Dragons 3 (10 innings)

Click here for the box score

Fort Wayne (R-H-E): 5-7-1; Dayton (R-H-E): 3-10-1

Win: Mitchell Miller (1-1); Loss: Luis Mey (0-1); Save: Joan Gonzalez (1)

HR: Dayton: Cade Hunter (2nd, 0 on base in two inning). Fort Wayne: None

Dayton, Ohio—The Fort Wayne TinCaps broke a 3-3 tie with two runs in the top of the 10^th inning and held on to defeat the Dayton Dragons 5-3 on Sunday afternoon. Fort Wayne won four of six in the series, taking the last four after Dayton won the first two.

A crowd of 8,082 was in attendance at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District.

For the third straight date, the Dragons took an early lead but could not produce any offense through the middle and late innings as Fort Wayne battled back to win. The Dragons built a 3-0 lead over the first three innings but could not score again.

In the second inning, Dayton’s Cade Hunter blasted a solo home run to right field, his second homer of the year, to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead. Later in the same inning, the Dragons pulled off a double steal with two outs as Yan Contreras scored from third on the back end of the play to make it 2-0. In the third, Cam Collier singled with one out, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Hunter’s single to make it 3-0.

Home run, brother!☝️ Cade Hunter hits his second home run of the season! #feelthefire pic.twitter.com/1HBe9yP3LT

— Dayton Dragons (@DragonsBaseball) April 21, 2024

Fort Wayne started back in the fourth, scoring two in the inning to make it 3-2. They added a run in the sixth to tie the score.

The Dragons had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth when Carlos Jorge lined a double to the right field corner with one out with the score tied, 3-3. Collier’s ground out advanced Jorge to third, and Ruben Ibarra was intentionally walked. Hunter also drew a walk to load the bases, but Jay Allen II stuck out looking to end the threat. Allen was playing in his first game since returning from a knee injury that forced him to miss 10 games.

Fort Wayne pushed two runs across in the top of the 10^th against Dragons reliever Luis Mey (0-1). The Dragons threatened in the bottom of the 10^th but came up short. With Allen, the free runner at second to start the inning, Victor Acosta drew a walk, putting the tying run on base. Pinch hitter Sal Stewart popped out to the catcher on a 3-0 pitch for the first out, and when Hector Rodriguez lined out to the second baseman, Allen was doubled off second base to end the game.

The Dragons 10-hit attack was led by Hunter, who had two hits including a home run and two RBI. Ibarra was 2 for 4. Jorge had a double. But the Dragons were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position and left 14 men on base.

Dragons starting pitcher Javi Rivera worked four innings, allowing two runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

Up Next: The Dragons (6-9) do not play on Monday. They will open a six-game road trip in Lansing, Michigan against the Lansing Lugnuts (7-8) on Tuesday night at 6:05 p.m. Ryan Cardona (1-0, 3.00) will start for Dayton against Lansing’s Mitch Myers (1-0, 1.86).

The next Dragons home game is Tuesday, April 30 against the West Michigan Whitecaps (Detroit Tigers affiliate) at 7:05 pm. For ticket information, go to daytondragons.com/tickets or call (937) 228-2287.

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.