Whitecaps Go Back-to-Back in 6-5 Loss
DAYTON, OH – Andrew Navigato and Parker Meadows hit back-to-back home runs for the first time since the beginning of the 2021 season, but the West Michigan Whitecaps came up on the losing end of a 6-5 decision to the Dayton Dragons on Wednesday night at Day Air Ballpark. The
DAYTON, OH – Andrew Navigato and Parker Meadows hit back-to-back home runs for the first time since the beginning of the 2021 season, but the West Michigan Whitecaps came up on the losing end of a 6-5 decision to the Dayton Dragons on Wednesday night at Day Air Ballpark.
The defeat drops West Michigan to a season-worst four games under .500 at 25-29 while extending their losing streak to five games – their second-longest losing skid of the season.
The Dragons opened the scoring in the first inning when Quin Cotton highlighted a three-run frame with a two-run double against talented Whitecaps starting pitcher Brendan White to take a 3-0 lead. In the second, Rey Rivera put the ‘Caps on the board with a run-scoring double, but Jacob Hurtibise stroked a two-run triple to extend the Dayton lead to 5-1. After the Dragons plated another run in the third on an RBI-double by Jose Tello, Navigato blasted his second home run in the past week with a towering drive to left that landed off to the side of the video board at Day Air Ballpark.
Meadows followed by blasting his first homer of the 2021 campaign to right field, trimming the deficit to 6-3. The back-to-back home runs mark the first time the Whitecaps have hit consecutive homers since Daniel Cabrera and Andre Lipcius accomplished the feat on May 22 at Wisconsin. After scoring single runs in the next two innings to bring the deficit to 6-5, the Whitecaps came no closer, as their last 11 hitters were retired to end the contest and give the Dragons the victory.
Dragons reliever Matt Gill (1-0) tossed 2.2 scoreless innings and struck out a pair of batters to earn his first win, while White (2-2) allowed six runs in three innings in suffering his second loss of the year. Ricky Karcher worked a scoreless ninth inning for Dayton to collect his first save. The Whitecaps fall to 25-29 on the season as Dayton improves to 32-23. Meadows, Rivera, and Jose King each reached base twice in a losing cause for West Michigan.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps continue their six-game series against the first-place Dayton Dragons on Wednesday at 7:05pm. West Michigan sends starting pitcher Brendan White, the newly names Detroit Tigers Minor League Pitcher of the Month, to the mound against Dragons righty Carson Spiers. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty starts on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50pm. Get your tickets for all 2021 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.