Dragons Press Box Notes for Sept. 8

Dragons GameDay
Friday, Sept. 8, 2017 l Game 3, East Division Playoffs
Fifth Third Ballpark l Comstock Park, Mich. l 7:00 p.m.
Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE
Dayton Dragons (30-40, 71-69) at West Michigan Whitecaps (46-23, 91-45)
RH Tony Santillan (9-8, 3.38) vs. RH Matt Manning (2-0, 5.60)
Click here for today's complete Press Box Notes packet.
Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the third and decisive game of the Midwest League Eastern Division first round playoffs. The series is tied, one win apiece. This is a best-of-three series.   

Regular Season Series: Dayton 11, West Michigan 8 (in Dayton: Dragons 8, Whitecaps 3).
Playoffs: The Dragons earned the first half Midwest League East Division wildcard spot by finishing in second place in the division. The Dragons are making their first playoff appearance since 2011 and enter the playoffs as a first half qualifier for the first time since 2007. The Dragons have made the playoffs as a first half qualifier two previous times in franchise history, in 2001 and 2007.
Red Hot Finish: The Dragons closed out the regular season by going 16-5 over their final 21 games. They won nine of their last 10 road games.
Last Game: Thursday: Dayton 2, West Michigan 1. The Dragons held off a Whitecaps ninth inning comeback bid to even the series at one win apiece. Dragons starting pitcher Scott Moss fired six scoreless innings and reliever Carlos Machorro tossed two more. West Michigan scored one run in the ninth and had the tying run at second base. Dauri Moreta entered the game with two outs and got a fly out to center field to end the game.                   
Individual Notes

• Jose Siri finished the regular season with a league-leading slugging percentage of .530, the second highest in Dragons history and highest since 2000 (Austin Kearns). Siri became just the second player in Dragons history to lead the league in stolen bases (Billy Hamilton, 2011). Siri also led the league in runs, hits, total bases, and extra base hits while tying for the league lead in triples and finishing second in home runs and fourth in RBI. Siri batted .325 with 22 home runs over his last 89 games (since May 21) of the regular season, raising his average from .218 to .293 and his slugging percentage from .303 to .530. Siri's 219 total bases from May 21 through the end of the season ranked second in all of Minor League Baseball. Siri's .621 slugging percentage from May 21 through the end of the season also ranked second in MiLB (full-season leagues).   

Team Notes

• The Dragons finished the 2017 season with their seventh best full-season record in their 18 seasons of existence. They finished with a winning record (71-69) for the third time in the past 10 seasons.
• The Dragons went 52-13 when allowing three runs or less (32-4 in 1st Half; 20-9 in 2nd Half).

• With 166 stolen bases, the Dragons led the Midwest League. This was their highest total since they stole 228 in 2011 (103 by Hamilton).
• The Dragons hit 112 home runs in 2017, their highest total since they hit 120 in 2008.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)
Midwest League Eastern Division Playoffs (2nd Round)
Game 1: Saturday, Sept. 9 (7:05 p.m.): Dayton or West Michigan at Fort Wayne
If the Dragons advance to the second round of the playoffs, their next home playoff game would be Sunday, September 10 at 7:00 p.m. against Fort Wayne. For Dragons ticket information, call (937) 228-2287 or go to this link: http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_homeA_header_search&user_input=dayton+dragons&q=dayton+dragons