McGuff Wins Dragons Debut as Dayton Tops Kane County 1-0

Dragons 1, Kane County 0
                                                
Kane County (R-H-E): 0-6-2 
Dayton (R-H-E): 1-5-0
 
Win:  Patrick McGuff (1-0)
Loss:  Jeff Bain (7-4)
Save: Aneurys Zabala (2)
 
HR: Dayton: None
HR: Kane County: None
 
Dayton, Ohio-New Dragons starting pitcher Patrick McGuff combined with two relievers on a six-hit shutout as the Dragons edged the Kane County Cougars 1-0 on Saturday night. A crowd of 7,844 saw the Dragons earn their second straight win at Fifth Third Field.
McGuff, a product of Sinclair Community College and Hamilton High School who was in his debut in the Reds organization after being signed out of independent professional baseball, tossed five scoreless innings, allowing four hits and one walk with four strikeouts to earn the win. He faced his toughest challenge in the top of the first inning when Kane County loaded the bases with one out. But McGuff struck out Ryan Grotjohn and got Yan Sanchez to ground out to shortstop to end the threat. McGuff retired the last nine batters he faced in his outing.
The Dragons scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Andy Sugilio reached on an infield single and went from first to third on a hit-and-run single by Lorenzo Cedrola. After Jeter Downs struck out, Leandro Santana hit a slow ground ball to shortstop that glanced off the glove of Kane County's Jazz Chisholm for an error, allowing Sugilio to score from third.

Kane County mounted a major two-out threat in the ninth inning against Dragons reliever Aneurys Zabala. After a fine defensive play by Downs at second base for the second out of the inning, Zabala issued a walk and then surrendered a single to right field that left runners at first and third. The next hitter, Eudy Ramos, hit a deep drive toward the right field corner that might have brought in two runs, but Dragons right fielder Raul Wallace made leaping catch in a full sprint to end the game. Zabala was credited with his second save.
The Dragons finished with five hits. Sugilio was 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.
Notes: The game marked the second nine-inning shutout win of the year for the Dragons. The first came on Monday at Great Lakes…Dragons reliever Miguel Aguilar had a strong outing in relief of McGuff, firing three scoreless innings and allowing only one base runner. He threw only 26 pitches while facing the minimum nine batters.
Up Next:  The Dragons (11-12, 42-49) host Kane County (10-13, 45-47) on Sunday at 2:07 p.m. at Fifth Third Field in the second game of the three-game series. Packy Naughton (4-8, 4.10) will start for the Dragons against Kane County's Jhoan Duran (5-3, 4.21). Naughton has not allowed a run over his last three starts and has streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings.
 
Game Broadcast:  The Dragons game on Sunday will be televised on Dayton's CW (Channel 26; Spectrum Cable channels 13 and 1013). 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 2018 ticket information, call (937) 228-2287.