At Dayton Dragons (31-23) RH Brendan White (2-1, 2.27) Vs
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Dragons GameDay Wednesday, July 7, 2021 ⚫ Game # 55 Day Air Ballpark ⚫ Dayton, Ohio ⚫ 7:05 p.m. Radio: 980 WONE Fox Sports West Michigan Whitecaps (25-28) at Dayton Dragons (31-23) RH Brendan White (2-1, 2.27) vs. RH Carson Spiers (1-1, 4.23) Today’s Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the second game of a six-game series. 2021 Season Series: Dayton 4, West Michigan 2 (first five games played at West Michigan June 22-27). Last Game: Tuesday: Dayton 2, Lansing 1. Mariel Bautista hit a home run in the fourth inning to break a 1-1 tie while Dayton pitchers Jacques Pucheu, Jesse Stallings, and Daniel Duarte combined to allow just one runner past second base. Francisco Urbaez and Quin Cotton each had two hits. Season Highs from Last Game: Fewest Walks Allowed, Game: 1 (matched season low) High-A Central League Playoffs: Major League Baseball has announced that leagues at the top four classifications will conduct playoffs in September. The top two teams in each league, regardless of division, will meet in a best-of-five series. Through July 5 (with 67 games to play), the Dragons would be in position to meet Quad Cities in the High-A Central League playoffs. Awards: Former Dragons pitcher Graham Ashcraft has been named Cincinnati Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Month for June. Ashcraft made three starts for Dayton in June and did not allow an earned run in 18 innings. He was promoted to Chattanooga after his start with Dayton on June 17 and made two June starts with the Lookouts, tossing 14 more innings without allowing a run. Ashcraft started July with another scoreless start, going six innings Sunday for Chattanooga. He has not allowed an earned run since May 25, going seven straight starts covering 43 innings without giving up an earned run. Player Notes • Francisco Urbaez is second in the league in batting average at .316. He is batting .346 over his last 29 games since May 29. • Victor Ruiz is batting .357 with six doubles over his last seven games. • Mariel Bautista is batting .350 over his last six games and hit his first home run of the season on Tuesday night. • James Free is batting .294 over his last 17 games with two home runs and 11 walks. • Quin Cotton has hit safely in five straight games and continues to lead the team in home runs with seven on the year. • Andy Fisher over his last six appearances has tossed 14.1 innings, allowing just two runs (1.26 ERA) on nine hits with 24 strikeouts. • Pedro Garcia over his last eight outings has tossed 12.2 innings, allowing one earned run (0.74 ERA) while going 5-0. Garcia leads the league in wins with six despite pitching exclusively out of the bullpen and not entering the league until May 27. Team Notes • The Dragons are 15-9 over their last 24 games. Oddly, they have been outscored 119-108 during those 24 games. • Dayton is in first place, one-half game ahead of Great Lakes in the High-A Central League East Division. • Dayton has maintained sole possession of first place since June 8. They have held at least a share of first place after 44 of the 54 games they have played this season. They have not been lower than second place in the standings and have not been more than one and one-half games out of first at any time this season. • The Dragons are 16-9 at home this season and are 9-4 over their last 13 home games. They are 8-1 in one-run games at home, and 8-1 when scoring first at home. • The Dragons are 19-8 overall in games decided by two runs or less, the best mark in the league. • The Dragons are 21-7 when scoring the first run of the game, second to Quad Cities for the best record in the league. • The Dragons have committed only 46 errors in 54 games, ranking second in the league in team fielding. • The Dragons have won eight consecutive series openers and they are 9-1 in the first game of a series this season. • The Dragons roster is headlined by outfielder Michael Siani. Siani is listed by Baseball America as the “Best Athlete” and “Best Defensive Outfielder” in the Reds organization. He is ranked as the Reds 10th best prospect overall. Other Dragons players ranked by Baseball America are RHP Lyon Richardson (#13), RHP Noah Davis (#15), and OF Jacob Hurtubise (#41). Comeback Kids: June 8 and 9, the Dragons won two games in two nights despite trailing by five or more runs in each game. They had six such comebacks in the last five years (697 games), averaging 1.2 comebacks per season in games when trailing by five or more runs. The June 8 win after trailing 7-0 matched the largest comeback for the Dragons over at least the last 15 seasons. Records on comebacks date back to 2006. The Dragons have battled back to win five times after trailing by at least four runs since May 18. Over the last five years, they averaged 2.2 wins per season when trailing by at least four runs. The Dragons have won eight games in 2021 after trailing by at least three runs, compared to the five-year average of 5.6 per season. The Dragons have lost one game that they led by three runs or more this season. Notable Changes for 2021: Major League Baseball completed a restructuring of the Minor Leagues prior to the 2021 season. Those changes included the contraction of 42 affiliated teams since the last completed season in 2019, cutting the Cincinnati Reds player development system from seven stateside teams to five (Billings and Greeneville were contracted). The league is now known as the High-A Central League after previously being referred to as the Midwest League. The league has been reclassified to the High-A level of Minor League Baseball after being a “Low-A” league since the Dragons inception in 2000. The league has been reduced from 16 teams to 12 (Burlington, Clinton, and Kane County were contracted; Bowling Green moved to new league). Each team in the High-A Central League is scheduled to play 120-games (60 home games). This is down from 140 games in previous years. Roster limits in 2021 have been set at 30 players after teams played for 25-player limits in recent years. Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com) Thu., July 8 (7:05 p.m.): West Michigan LH Adam Wolf (1-1, 2.95) at Dayton RH Lyon Richardson (2-3, 5.21) Fri., July 9 (7:05 p.m.): West Michigan RH Beau Brieske (4-2, 3.55) at Dayton RH Eduardo Salazar (1-2, 3.38) Sat., July 10 (7:05 p.m.): West Michigan RH Kieder Montero (2-6, 4.98) at Dayton RH Noah Davis (2-4, 3.40) Sun., July 11 (2:05 p.m.): West Michigan RH Garrett Hill (1-0, 3.24) at Dayton LH Jacques Pucheu (3-0, 4.05) TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER CARSON SPIERS (#2) Height: 6-3 Bats: R Birthdate: November 11, 1997 Acquired: Reds NDFA, 2020 Weight: 205 Throws: R College: Clemson University Resides: Greenville, SC Last name pronounced SPY-ers High-A Central League Pitcher of the Week, week of June 7-13. Joined Club: May 26 from Daytona Notes: Opened pro career with Daytona in 2021, going 2-0 with a 3.18 ERA…Tossed the ninth inning of a combination no-hitter on May 22 vs. Jupiter to earn the save…Promoted to Dayton on May 26…Made four appearances out of Dayton bullpen before being moved into starting rotation for start on June 18…Spent four seasons at Clemson from 2017-20…Served as Tigers closer in 2019-20, notching 11 saves in 2019, tied for third most in school history…Career ERA of 2.47 and .180 opponent’s batting average at Clemson…Began career at Clemson as two-way player (pitcher/third baseman)…All-ACC Academic selection in both 2018 and 2019…All-State baseball selection at Greenville High School, where he also lettered four times in football as a quarterback, setting the school’s all-time record in career touchdown passes and passing yards…Father, Michael, played four years at Clemson and was the MVP of the 1991 ACC Tournament…Grandfather, Bud, played three seasons at Clemson…Nephew of 13-year Major League infielder Bill Spiers. Spiers in 2021: Began season in Daytona (Low-A Southeast League) starting rotation…Posted ERA of 1.08 over first three starts, allowing two runs in 16.2 innings…Pitched ninth inning of no-hitter in fourth appearance before returning to starting role for one rough outing that drove up final ERA with Daytona to 3.18)…Promoted to Dayton on May 26…Struggled through first two outings with Dragons (combined seven runs allowed in five innings) before his season turned around on June 8 when he entered game to start third inning with Dragons trailing 7-0…Tossed six near-perfect innings to earn win as Dragons battled back for 8-7 victory…Earned High-A Central League Pitcher of the Week honor for week of June 7-13. Longest Start in 2021: 6.2 innings (July 1) Most pitches in a game in 2021: 102 (July 1) Against this Opponent: Started first game of a doubleheader at West Michigan on June 25…Worked first four innings, allowing two runs…Allowed three walks in the second inning, surrendering one run in the frame (has not walked more than one batter in any other game with the Dragons this season)…Allowed RBI double to Daniel Cabrera in first…Left game trailing 2-0 and was charged with the loss as West Michigan held on to win 2-1.