Manzanero's three homers sink Captains

(Eastlake, OH) - Pabel Manzanero's three-home-run game led the Dayton Dragons (7-11) past the Lake County Captains (11-7) on Tuesday night at Classic Park. The Dragons' first baseman went deep in the first, the fifth and the seventh innings, becoming the third Midwest League player to homer three or more times in a game this year. Manzanero's performance helped the Dragons take game two of the three-game series, 7-4.

Manzanero struck first just four batters into the contest. With one out, Mariel Bautista beat out an infield single for the first hit of the game. Two batters later, Manzanero connected with a two-run shot to right-center off of Captains starter Juan Mota .
The Captains struck back quickly, scoring two runs in their half of the first inning to tie the game back up 2-2. The sequence began with Tyler Freeman taking a breaking ball off his left arm for a hit-by-pitch. He came around to score when Will Benson ripped a double to right-center field. Josh Rolette later drove in Benson with a double to left that knotted up the game.
Dayton managed to tack on another run in the second inning without the benefit of a hit. With Juan Martinez on first following a leadoff walk, Ernesto Liberatore hit a grounder to shortstop. Freeman flipped to Jose Fermin for the force at second, but Fermin send his throw over first baseman Mitch Reeves , which allowed Liberatore to advance to second. Claudio Finol then hit a grounder to shortstop and Freeman's throw sailed over Reeves to give Dayton a 3-2 lead.
In the top of the third, Mota started the inning with back-to-back strikeouts, but Dayton put together a two-out rally. Miguel Hernandez reached on an infield single and Martinez doubled him home to push the Dragons' lead to 4-2.
The Captains got one back in their half of the third with an aggressive baserunning play. Freeman doubled to lead things off, Benson followed with a walk and Freeman moved up to third on a wild pitch. With runners on the corners, Benson took off for second and Liberatore, the Dragons' catcher, threw to second. As the throw went through, Freeman broke for home and Hernandez cut in front of the second base bag to redirect the throw home. The Dragons' shortstop, however, dropped the ball and Freeman scored on the double steal to trim Dayton's lead to 4-3.
In the top of the fifth, the Captains brought in Thomas Ponticelli to relieve Mota and Manzanero greeted him with a home run on the first pitch to make the score 5-3 in the Dragons' favor. Manzanero, of course, was not done yet. In the seventh inning, he hit a towering blast to centerfield for his third long ball of the night to give Dayton a 6-3 lead.
Dayton tacked on one more run in the seventh after Manzanero's third homer. After Shard Munroe singled, Hernandez hit a tailing fly ball to left-centerfield. Benson raced to the gap, reached out and could not make the catch, as the ball glanced off his glove for a double. Munroe scored to give Dayton a 7-3 advantage.
Hosea Nelson gave the Captains one last tally in the bottom of the seventh. His line drive homer to right off of Eduardo Salazar cut the Dragons' lead to 7-4, but it was too little, too late.
The Dragons' bullpen held off the Captains the rest of the way. After a scoreless eighth by Julio Pinto, Connor Bennett held Lake County without a run in the ninth despite a single and a walk. Bennett picked up the save and Dragons starter James Marinan earned the win. Marinan (1-1) pitched five innings and allowed three runs on three hits with three walks and four strikeouts.
Mota (0-3) took the loss after allowing four runs, three earned, over four innings. The Dragons tallied four hits against Mota, who struck out six and walked four.
The Captains and Dragons have split the first two games of their three-game series and will play the rubber match in a day game at Classic Park. First pitch is scheduled for a noon on Wednesday.
Individual game tickets for all Captains games are on sale at the Classic Park box office, online at captainsbaseball.com and by phone at 440-954-WINS (9467). Mini ticket plans for the 2019 season are still available for great prices complete with several exclusive benefits. Information can be found at the Captains website www.captainsbaseball.com.