Big Inning Lifts Dragons to Win in Home Stand Opener

Dayton, Ohio-John Sansone and Bruce Yari belted home runs and Jose Siri had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 25 straight games as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Peoria Chiefs 8-5 on Wednesday night. The game was the opener to a six-game home stand against West Division opponents.
The Dragons trailed 5-2 before scoring five runs on six hits in the bottom of the sixth inning. The rally started with a bunt single by Taylor Trammell, who raced around to third on the play after the pitcher threw wildly to first. Yari's single through the middle brought in Trammell to make it 5-3. Sansone singled to right to move Yari to third, and Cassidy Brown's sacrifice fly brought in Yari to make it 5-4. Malik Collymore was hit by a pitch, and Hector Vargas singled to left to drive in Sansone from second to tie the game. Gabriel Ovalle then singled to right to drive in Collymore, and Siri doubled down the left field line to bring in Vargas and make it 7-5.

Siri extended his hitting streak to 25 straight games with an infield single in the fifth inning. He later added the double. The 25-game hitting streak is the longest in the Midwest League during the current decade (2010-17). The league record is 35, set in 1977 by Waterloo's Tony Toups. More recently, West Michigan's Robert Fick had a 32-game hitting streak in 1997.
Dragons reliever Carlos Machorro (2-1) was credited with the win, tossing two and one-third innings of scoreless baseball in relief of starter Andrew Jordan. Joel Kuhnel followed Machorro with two scoreless innings, and Jesse Adams pitched a perfect ninth for his third save. The bullpen combined to work five and one-third innings, allowing just one hit and no runs.
Sansone hit a two-run home run in the second inning to give the Dragons an early lead. It was Sansone's 11th homer of the year and his seventh of the second half. Peoria responded with three runs in the third and two more in the fourth before the Dragons regained the lead in the sixth.
The Dragons collected 11 hits. Siri, Yari, and Sansone each had two.
Up Next: The Dragons (8-17, 49-46) host the Chiefs again on Thursday at Fifth Third Field at 7:00 p.m. Matt Blandino (1-2, 4.12) will start for the Dragons against Peoria's Frederis Parra (1-3, 2.84).      
All Dragons games are broadcast on radio on Fox Sports 980 WONE and on the internet at wone.com. Games are also available on the Dayton Dragons mobile app.
For Dragons 2017 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.
Notes: The Dragons announced on Wednesday that all-star catcher Tyler Stephenson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ligament in his right thumb…Adams has not allowed a run over his last 13 relief appearances covering 17 innings. Kuhnel extended his streak of scoreless outings to nine covering 13 innings.