Waldrop, French Lead Dragons to 9-3 Win
April 16, 2012
Click Here to see the Box Score
Dayton (R-H-E): 9-9-1
Fort Wayne (R-H-E): 3-8-2
WP: Justice French (2-1)
LP: Frank Garces (0-1)
Sv: None
HR: Dayton: None
HR: Fort Wayne: Kyle Gaedele (1st, 0 on base in second inning).
Fort Wayne, Ind.-Kyle Waldrop doubled, tripled, and drove in three runs while starting pitcher Justice French tossed six strong innings to lead the Dayton Dragons to a 9-3 victory over the Fort Wayne TinCaps in the first game of a three-game series on Monday night. The Dragons improved to 5-6 on the season while Fort Wayne fell to 3-8.
French (2-1) allowed only four hits and two runs in six-plus innings. He walked three and struck out two as he became the first Dragons pitcher this season to work into the seventh inning of a game. French faced two batters in the seventh before turning it over to the bullpen.
Waldrop extended his hitting streak to five straight games, going 2 for 3 with two walks. He is 8 for 14 (.571) over the course of the five games.
Fort Wayne got the scoring started in the second inning on a two-out solo home run to center field by Kyle Gaedele, his first of the year.
The Dragons took advantage of a Fort Wayne mistake in the fifth to take the lead. Waldrop started the inning with a double to left-center field, the first hit of the game for Dayton. After Junior Arias walked, Nick O'Shea dropped a bunt to the right side. Fort Wayne catcher first baseman Zack Kometani fielded the ball but threw wildly to third, allowing both Waldrop and Arias to score as O'Shea went to third. O'Shea then scored on a balk to make it 3-1. The Dragons added another run in the top of the seventh on an RBI infield single by Ryan Wright to take a 4-1 lead.
French allowed a run in the bottom of the seventh and was replaced by reliever Jimmy Moran, who worked out of a bases loaded jam, getting a strikeout of Fort Wayne's Donovan Tate to end the inning and preserve the two-run lead.
Dayton added two more runs in the eighth and then Waldrop drove in three in the ninth with a bases-loaded double to make it 9-2. Fort Wayne scored once in the bottom of the inning to close out the scoring.
The Dragons collected nine hits. Waldrop, Wright, and Steve Selsky each had two.
The Dragons play at Fort Wayne again on Tuesday night against the TinCaps at 7:05 p.m. (WONE 980 AM) in the second game of a three-game series. Radhames Quezada (0-0, 0.90), who has allowed just one run in 10 innings this season over two starts, will begin the game for the Dragons. He will be opposed by Fort Wayne's Adys Portillo (1-0, 0.84). The Dragons return to Dayton on April 19 vs. the Quad Cities River Bandits to begin a six-game homestand. All three games in the Quad Cities series (Thursday, Friday, and Saturday) will be televised on WHIO Digital Channel 7.2 (channel 23 on Time Warner basic cable; channel 372 on Time Warner's digital tier). Former Reds first baseman Todd Benzinger will join Dragons broadcaster Tom Nichols on Thursday.