Dragons Win Third Straight, Take Wildcard Lead
West Michigan (R-H-E): 5-6-1
Dayton (R-H-E): 7-10-1
Winning Pitcher: Mark Serrano (2-0);
Losing Pitcher: Anthony Shawler (6-4);
Save: Donnie Joseph (3)
Home Runs:
Dayton: None.
West Michigan: Ben Guez (12th, 0 on base in sixth inning).
Dayton, Ohio-Tony Brown collected a single, double, and triple and Alex Oliveras drove in four runs as the Dayton Dragons defeated the West Michigan Whitecaps 7-5 on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field. The win was the Dragons third straight and moved them into the lead in the Eastern Division wildcard race.
The Dragons built a 7-0 lead over the first three innings. They scored four times in the second, keyed by a two-run double by Oliveras, a run-scoring single by Josh Fellhauer, and an RBI double by Cody Puckett. In the third, Humberto Sosa's double drove in Brown to make it 5-0, and Oliveras added another two-run double to give Dayton a seven-run lead.
Dragons starting pitcher Mark Serrano (2-0) did not allow a run until the fourth, pushing his streak of consecutive innings without an earned run to 26 and two-thirds. West Michigan scored three times against Serrano in the fourth and one more in the sixth to pull to within three at 7-4.
Hector Santana replaced Serrano with two outs in the sixth and Donnie Joseph came on to get the final four outs as the Dragons held on for the win.
Serrano was credited with the victory. He allowed six hits and four earned runs in five and two-thirds innings, walking no one and striking out six. Joseph picked up his third save.
Dayton finished with 10 hits, all in the first five innings. Fellhauer joined Brown and Oliveras in collecting multiple hits, going 2 for 4.
Dayton's win coupled with a South Bend loss to Great Lakes gave the Dragons a one-game lead on South Bend in the wildcard race with 15 games to play.
The Dragons (26-29, 54-70) host the Whitecaps (31-24, 74-51) on Sunday at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field in the last game of the four-game series as the Dragons go for the sweep. Justin Walker (0-0, 1.64) will start for Dayton.
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