Pitching Keys Series-Tying Win
Dayton, Ohio - The TinCaps enjoyed one of their best all-around team performances Friday night in a 5-2 win over the Dayton Dragons at Fifth Third Field. The pitching staff retired the final 15 Dayton batters of the game to hold off the Eastern Division's second-place team.
Fernando Perez set the tone for early two-out scoring with a line-drive home run over the 338-foot marker down the left field line in the first inning. Dayton (20-14) starter Amir Garrett (0-3) gave up an RBI single to Perez in the third, which also came with two outs, and Adolfo Reina delivered a two-out double to score Mallex Smith in the third to give Fort Wayne (14-20) a 3-0 lead.
TinCaps starter Adrian De Horta had faced 10 batters through the first three innings, and found himself in trouble in the fourth, walking the bases loaded, but he escaped from trouble. In the fifth, though, he loaded the bases again without recording an out, and was replaced by Tony Wieber (1-0).
The former Michigan State Spartan allowed two of the runners he inherited to score, but avoided further trouble in the fifth, and he started the pitching staff rolling from there. He retired nine straight in his three innings of work, and handed the ball off to Tayron Guerrero in the eighth, who also worked a perfect frame. Nick Mutz earned his fourth save of the year, and second of this road trip, with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
Fort Wayne added its final two runs in the seventh inning on a Ronnie Richardson RBI triple and a Mallex Smith sacrifice fly. Richardson extended his on-base streak, now having reached in all 18 games he's played in a TinCaps uniform.
Another bright spot for Fort Wayne was that Friday marked the team's First errorless game since April 15th.
The finale of the series is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:07 p.m. The starters are Erik Cabrera for the TinCaps and Nick Travieso for the Dragons. The game can be heard on The Fan 1380 and TheFanFortWayne.com.