Dragons Hold Off Whitecaps to Win 4-3; Dayton Again is One Game Out of First Place

DRAGONS 4, WEST MICHIGAN 3

Click here for the box score

Dayton (R-H-E): 4-8-1; West Michigan (R-H-E): 3-12-1

Win: Jimmy Romano (2-3); Loss: Lucas Elissalt (0-4); Save: Trent Hodgdon (2)

HR: Dayton: Alfredo Alcantara (7^th, 0 on base in second inning); Alfredo Duno (12^th, 0 on base in third inning); Kien Vu (7^th, 1 on base in eighth inning). HR: West Michigan: Andrew Sojka (4^th, 0 on base in sixth inning); Bryce Rainer (3^rd, 0 on base in eighth inning); Ricardo Hurtado (4^th, 0 on base in eighth inning).

Grand Rapids, Mich.—Kien Vu hit a two-run home run and reliever Trent Hodgdon notched a game-ending strikeout with the bases loaded as the Dayton Dragons held on to defeat the West Michigan Whitecaps 4-3 on Thursday night.

The Dragons win coupled with a Great Lakes loss to Lansing allowed the Dragons to climb back to within one game of first place in the East Division first half race with 12 games to play.

Game Recap: Each team hit three home runs with five of the six coming with the bases empty in a close encounter. Dayton took the lead in the second inning when Alfredo Alcantara connected on his seventh homer of the year to put the Dragons in front, 1-0. In the third, Alfredo Duno lined a homer to left, his 12^th of the season, to make it 2-0.

Meanwhile, Dayton starting pitcher Kyle McCoy kept the Whitecaps off the scoreboard before leaving with two outs in the fifth when he reached his pitch limit. McCoy struck out seven while walking only one and surrendered five hits.

West Michigan’s Andrew Sojka hit a solo home run in the sixth off Dragons reliever Jimmy Romano to make it 2-1. Romano got a strikeout to end that inning, stranding the tying run at third base.

In the top of the eighth, Carlos Sanchez singled to center field for the Dragons, and one batter later, Kien Vu belted a two-run home run to right field to give the Dragons a 4-1 lead. Vu’s homer was his seventh of the year.

West Michigan got back-to-back home runs to start the bottom of the eighth from Bryce Rainer and Ricardo Hurtado against Dragons reliever Dylan Simmons to make it 4-3. Simmons remained in the game to start the bottom of the ninth and got a ground out to start the inning before allowing a one out walk. After an infield pop out for the second out, Garrett Pennington singled to right to move the tying run to third with two outs. Simmons was replaced by Trent Hodgdon, who gave up a four-pitch walk to load the bases. But Hodgdon struck out Hurtado on three pitches to end the game and earn his second save.

Romano (2-3) was credited with the win. He worked two and one-third innings, allowing one run on three hits with two strikeouts.

The Dragons had eight hits. Carter Graham was 3 for 4 to raise his batting average to .321. Sanchez had two hits to finish the night at .319.

Up Next: The Dragons (31-23) continue their six-game series in Grand Rapids, Michigan against the Whitecaps (17-37) with the fourth game of the set on Friday night at 6:50 pm. David Lorduy (0-0, 2.25) will start for Dayton against West Michigan’s Carlos Marcano (0-1, 2.63).

The next Dragons home game is Tuesday, June 9 when the Dragons host the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the start to a six-game series at 7:05 pm at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. 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.