Dragons Press Box Notes for September 11

Dragons GameDay
Monday, Sept. 11, 2017 l Game 3, East Division Championship Series
Fifth Third Field l Dayton, Ohio l 7:00 p.m.
Radio: Fox Sports 980 WONE
Fort Wayne TinCaps (68-72) at Dayton Dragons (71-69)
RH Michel Baez (6-2, 2.45) vs. RH Andrew Jordan (7-8, 4.66)
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Today's Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the third and deciding game of the Midwest League Eastern Division Championship Series. The winner of this game will advance to the Midwest League Championship series.
Current Series: Dayton 1, Fort Wayne 1.    Regular Season Series: Dayton 7, Fort Wayne 7 (in Dayton: Dragons 6, TinCaps 1).
Reaching this Series: The Dragons advanced to this round of the playoffs (2nd round, MWL Semi-Finals) by defeating West Michigan in the first round, 2 games to 1. Fort Wayne advanced by defeating Bowling Green, 2 games to 0. This is the fourth time in Dragons history that the club has reached the second round of the playoffs and the first time since 2008. The Dragons have never won a second round series.
Reaching the 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 entered 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.
Last Game: Sunday: Fort Wayne 6, Dayton 0. Four Fort Wayne pitchers combined on a five-hit shutout. The TinCaps got back-to-back home runs from Brad Zunica and Marcus Greene Jr. in the second inning and then added three more in the third to take a commanding lead. The Dragons were 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position and could never mount a comeback effort. Randy Ventura had two hits for Dayton.                 
Individual Notes

• Michael Beltre , who left last night's game with a sprained ankle, went 9 for 17 (.529) in the playoffs after closing out the regular season by going 9 for 11 with three walks in the final series. Over the last eight games including playoffs, he was 18 for 28, .643.

Team Notes

• Prior to last night, Dragons pitchers had posted an 0.95 ERA in the first four playoff games, allowing eight runs (four earned) in 38 innings. After allowing six earned runs last night, Dragons pitchers have a post-season ERA of 1.91.
• Until last night, none of the Dragons first four playoff games featured a Dayton lead of more than two runs or a Dayton deficit of more than one run at any time. The Dragons had trailed for only one inning in the playoffs (end of 9th Wednesday). They fell behind in the second inning last night and never recovered.

Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)
Midwest League Championship Series
Game 1: Wednesday, Sept. 13: Cedar Rapids or Quad Cities at Dayton or Fort Wayne (7:00 p.m. if played in Dayton)
Game 2: Thursday, Sept. 14: Cedar Rapids or Quad Cities at Dayton or Fort Wayne (7:00 p.m. if played in Dayton)