TinCaps Score 2 in 9th, Beat Dragons 4-3

Fort Wayne 4, Dragons 3

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Fort Wayne, Ind.-Pinch hitter Diego Goris lined a single to left field to drive in Alberth Martinez from second base with the winning run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift the Fort Wayne TinCaps to a 4-3 victory over the Dayton Dragons on Sunday afternoon. The Dragons led 3-2 going to the bottom of the ninth before the TinCaps rallied with two runs for the win.

The Dragons remained two games out of the wildcard slot in the Midwest League playoff chase. They are 27-23 in the second half.

With Dayton trailing 2-1 in the seventh inning, the Dragons Sammy Diaz and Jeff Gelalich both singled and Seth Mejias-Brean walked to load the bases with two outs. Tanner Rahier singled up the middle to drive in Diaz and Gelalich and give the Dragons a 3-2 lead.

Fort Wayne's Tyler Stubblefield doubled to the right field fence to start the bottom of the ninth against Dragons reliever Werleen Taveras (1-1). Stubblefield was sacrificed to third and scored on a single to right by pinch hitter Alberth Martinez to tie the game at 3-3. Mallex Smith struck out, but on the play, Martinez advanced, who was running on the pitch, advanced to second on an error by Dragons shortstop Humberto Valor, who dropped the ball as he tagged Martinez sliding in to second. The mistake allowed the inning to continue and Goris drilled a hit to left to bring in Martinez and end the game.

Dragons starting pitcher Drew Cisco worked six innings, allowing two runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. He left the game with a 3-2 lead but came away with no decision. Wandy Peralta pitched two scoreless innings. Taveras, utilized in a save situation for the first time since he joined the Dragons, allowed two runs in two-thirds of an inning to take the loss.

The Dragons finished with eight hits. Rahier drove in all three runs, going 2 for 5. Diaz had two hits. The Dragons went a combined 2 for 17 with men in scoring position and stranded 12. 

The Dragons had a chance to pull to within one game of wildcard leader Bowling Green, which lost for the second straight night to Lake County, but the Dayton loss kept them two games off the pace. There are 20 games remaining to be played. 

The Dragons and TinCaps close out the three-game series on Monday at 7:05 p.m. Sal Romano (6-8, 4.65) will start for the Dragons against Fort Wayne's Max Fried (5-5, 3.46). The Dragons do not play on Tuesday. They open a big three-game series with the Great Lakes Loons on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field. All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com.