Dragons GameDay Tuesday, July 6, 2021 ⚫ Game # 54 Day Air Ballpark ⚫ Dayton, Ohio ⚫ 7:05 p.m. Radio: 980 WONE Fox Sports West Michigan Whitecaps (25-27) at Dayton Dragons (30-23) RH Garrett Hill (1-0, 3.00) vs. LH Jacques Pucheu (2-0, 4.61) Today’s Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the West Michigan Whitecaps (affiliate of the Detroit Tigers) in the first game of a six-game series. 2021 Season Series: Dayton 3, West Michigan 2 (all five games played at West Michigan June 22-27). 12 Road Games in 13 Days: The Dragons went 6-5 on the road trip that ended Sunday (West Michigan and Lansing), which was shortened to 11 games due to a postponement in West Michigan that could not be made up during that series. They averaged 4.9 runs per game and allowed 5.4. They batted .234 (88-376) in the 11 games with seven home runs and five stolen bases (four came in the same game). The team ERA on the trip was 4.64 (83.1 IP, 43 ER). They had 12 errors in the 11 games. 12 Home Games in 13 Days: The Dragons are scheduled for 12 consecutive home games starting tonight, with an off-day next Monday separating the current six-game series with West Michigan from a six-game set against Great Lakes beginning July 13. Last Game: Sunday: Dayton 12, Lansing 8. The Dragons scored to take the lead or tie in each of the last four innings to split the series. The Dragons trailed 7-5 going to the ninth but scored three in the inning to take an 8-7 lead, and after Lansing tied it in the bottom of the ninth, Dayton scored four in the 10th for the win. Victor Ruiz led a 17-hit Dayton attack with four hits, including an RBI double in the ninth. Season Highs from Last Game: Most Runs, Game: Free (4); Most Hits, Game: Ruiz (4, tied team season high); Most Doubles, Game: Ruiz (2, tied team season high); Longest Game, Minutes: 4:31. Long: Sunday’s game was the longest Dragons game in terms of minutes since May 24, 2017 when the Dragons and Great Lakes played a 16-inning game in four hours, 44 minutes. The 2017 season was the final year before the “free runner at second” rule was put in place to begin each extra inning. 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 fifth in the league in batting average at .311. He is batting .340 over his last 28 games since May 29. • Victor Ruiz had four hits on Sunday and went 9 for 27 (.333) on the road trip. • 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 14-9 over their last 23 games. Oddly, they have been outscored 118-106 during those 23 games. • Dayton is in first place, one-half game ahead of Great Lakes in the High-A Central League East Division. • Dayton has held at least a share of first place after 43 of the 53 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 18-8 in games decided by two runs or less, the best mark in the league. • The Dragons are 20-7 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 53 games, ranking second in the league in team fielding. • 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. Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com) Wed., July 7 (7:05 p.m.): West Michigan RH Brendan White (2-1, 2.27) at Dayton RH Carson Spiers (1-1, 4.23) Thur., 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 TBA Sun., July 11 (2:05 p.m.): West Michigan RH Garrett Hill at Dayton LH Jacques Pucheu TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER JACQUES PUCHEU (#10) Height: 6-2 Bats: L Birthdate: April 22, 1997 Acquired: MiLB FA, 2019 (purchased from Evansville, Frontier League) Weight: 210 Throws: L College: Austin Peay Resides: Clarksville, TN Notes: Named pronounced in accordance with French-Canadian ancestry (first name like JOCK; last name PEE-Shoe)…Went undrafted in 2019 after a record-setting career at Austin Peay State University before briefly joining the Evansville Otters of the independent Frontier League…Reds purchased Pucheu’s contract from Evansville on June 22, 2019…After one year in junior college, Pucheu spent his remaining three years of college baseball at Austin Peay in the Ohio Valley Conference. His best year came as a senior in 2019 when he went 8-4 with a 3.07 ERA to earn 1st Team All-OVC…Pucheu was initially sent to the Arizona League Reds in Goodyear, where he made 11 appearances including three starts, producing an ERA of 4.08. He was promoted to Greeneville in mid-August and made four appearances with the G-Reds including two starts, allowing just three runs in 18 innings for an ERA of 1.50. His best outing came August 23 when he fired seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk with nine strikeouts. Pucheu in 2021: Had been utilized exclusively as a reliever prior to start on June 23 (in rotation slot vacated by Graham Ashcraft with his promotion to Chattanooga on June 22)…Allowed one run in four innings in first start in Dragons win at West Michigan…Made second start at Lansing on June 30, allowing one unearned run in 4.1 innings…Opened season with five consecutive scoreless outings covering 9.2 innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 11…Finished month of May with an ERA of 0.69 in 13 innings…Posted 8.16 ERA in June…Has made two starts, working a combined 8.1 innings and allowing two runs (one unearned). Longest outing: 4.1 innings (June 30) High pitch total in an outing: 75 (June 30) Last Start: Faced Lansing on June 30, recording season highs in innings pitched (4.1) and pitches thrown (75)…Allowed just one unearned run on two hits with three walks and three strikeouts…Left the game with one out in the fifth after allowing his only run of the outing (set up by Pucheu’s throwing error on a pick-off play) and was replaced by Jake Gilbert with the scored tied, 1-1…Lansing eventually won the game 8-3.