Dragons Bid for Sweep Spoiled by West Michigan, 8-3
April 22, 2010
West Michigan (R-H-E): 8-12-0
Dayton (R-H-E): 3-9-1
WP: Ramon Lebron (2-0)
LP: Jacob Johnson (0-1)
Sv: None
HR: Dayton: Chris Richburg (2nd, 0 on base in fourth inning).
HR: West Michigan: Jordan Lennerton (1st, 0 on base in third inning).
Dayton, Ohio-Jamie Johnson collected three hits including two doubles and drove in three runs to lead the West Michigan Whitecaps to an 8-3 victory over the Dayton Dragons before a crowd of 7,767 on Thursday night at Fifth Third Field. The West Michigan win spoiled the Dragons hopes of a three-game series sweep and dropped Dayton's overall record to 9-6. They completed their six-game home stand with a 3-3 record.
The Whitecaps win overshadowed a big night by Dayton's Andrew Means, who went 4 for 5 and raised his batting average to .400. Means enjoyed his eighth multi-hit game among the 14 contests he has played in.
West Michigan took the lead in the top of the third inning on a solo home run by Jordan Lennerton, his first of the year.
In the bottom of the third, Dayton tied the game after a reversal of a controversial call by the umpires. With two outs and the bases empty, Henry Rodriguez hit fly ball to shallow right field that was fielded on the first hop by right fielder Avasail Garcia. The umpires discussed the play briefly and ruled that Garcia had caught the ball on the fly, prompting Dragons manager Todd Benzinger to sprint from the third base coaching box to argue the call. After a lengthy discussion, the call was changed to a base hit. Rodriguez then stole second and scored on a single by Means to tie the game.
West Michigan scored again in the fourth before Dayton's Chris Richburg homered to tie the game at 2-2. It was Richburg's second home run of the year.
But West Michigan took control of the game with three runs in the top of the fifth, keyed by a two-run single by Jamie Johnson. After the Dragons scored one run in the bottom of the fifth when Richburg was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, West Michigan tacked on three more runs against Dayton reliever Junior Martinez in the seventh to lead 8-3 and close out the scoring.
Dragons starting pitcher Jacob Johnson (0-1) suffered the loss. He worked four and one-third innings, allowing eight hits and five earned runs with one walk and no strikeouts.
Dayton finished with nine hits. Frank Pfister doubled in his first at-bat to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games.
The Dragons travel to Lansing to take on the Lugnuts in the first game of a three-game series on Friday at 7:05 p.m. The series will continue Saturday at 4:05 and Sunday at 2:05. Josh Ravin (0-0, 1.84) will start for Dayton on Friday against Lansing's Ryan Shopshire (1-0, 3.94). The Dragons return home Tuesday to begin a three-game series with the Lake County Captains at 7:00 p.m. at Fifth Third Field.
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