Hernandez Homers, Warren Shines in Dragons 7-1 Win

Davenport, Iowa- Miguel Hernandez blasted a three-run home run and Cameron Warren reached base four times in his Dayton debut as the Dragons defeated the Quad Cities River Bandits 7-1 on Friday night. The win gave the Dragons a series victory in Quad Cities, two-games-to-one. It was their third road series win of the year.

The victory also pulled the Dragons to within one game of the wildcard lead in the Midwest League second half race in the East Division. Wildcard leader Lansing lost on Friday and fell to 14-13 in the half. The Dragons are 13-14.
Dragons pitchers Adrian Rodriguez and Jerry D'Andrea combined to allow just two hits without surrendering an earned run.
The Dragons fell behind 1-0 when Quad Cities scored in the first inning, but Dayton tied the game in the second on a run-scoring single by Jay Schuyler to bring in Brian Rey, who had doubled off the fence to start the rally. The Dragons took advantage of a two-out error to score in the third and jump ahead, 2-1.
In the sixth, Mariel Bautista blasted a lead-off home run to make it 3-1. After a double by Pabel Manzanero and a walk to Warren, Hernandez launched a home run to left field, his third of the year, to make it 6-1. The Dragons closed out the scoring in the eighth when Warren walked, went to second on Schuyler's single, to third on a balk, and scored on Randy Ventura's infield single to give the Dragons a 7-1 advantage.
Rodriguez, pressed into a starting role due to injuries after making 20 relief appearances for the Dragons, gave the club five strong innings, allowing only one unearned run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts. He earned the win to improve to 5-2. D'Andrea, the Dragons lone lefty in the bullpen, replaced Rodriguez to start the sixth and finished the game without allowing a hit or a run to earn his third save. He walked three and struck out three.
Warren, the big hitter on a Texas Tech team that went to the College World Series in June, had a double, single, two walks, and two runs scored in his Dragons debut. The Dragons collected 11 hits including two each by Warren, Schuyler, and Ventura. Michael Siani had one hit to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games. Claudio Finol's eight-game hitting streak was snapped with an 0 for 5 night.
The Dragons have won five of their last six games. They have collected at least 10 hits and scored at least seven runs in four of their last five games.
Up Next: The Dragons (13-14, 41-56) continue their six-game road trip in Geneva, Illinois against the Kane County Cougars (18-8, 53-42) on Saturday night at 7:35 p.m. (EDT). Andy Fisher will start for the Dragons in his Midwest League debut. Fisher was a 2019 1st Team All-Big Ten starting pitcher with Illinois, going 7-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 101 innings.  After signing with the Reds as a free agent following the 2019 draft, Fisher went to Greeneville and posted an ERA of 0.87, allowing just two earned runs in 20.2 innings. Kane County's Saturday night starter will be Jackson Goddard (5-3, 2.76).
The next Dragons home game is Wednesday, July 24 against the Great Lakes Loons at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field.
On the Air: All Dragons home and road 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.
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