Dragons GameDay Thursday, August 26, 2021 ⚫ Game # 99 Parkview Field ⚫ Fort Wayne, Ind. ⚫ 7:05 p.m. Radio: 980 WONE Fox Sports Dayton Dragons (51-47) at Fort Wayne TinCaps (47-51) RH JC Keys (3-2, 5.01) vs. RH Connor Lehmann (3-2, 5.24) Today’s Game: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) meet the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the third game of a six-game series. 2021 Season Series: Dayton 8, Fort Wayne 6. (At Fort Wayne: Dragons 4, TinCaps 4). Current Series: Dragons 1, TinCaps 1. Last Game: Wednesday: Dayton 4, Fort Wayne 3 (10 innings). Allan Cerda had three hits including a tie-breaking RBI double in the top of the 10th inning and reliever Pedro Garcia bounced back from a blown save in the eighth inning to pitch a scoreless bottom of the 10th for the win. Alex McGarry added two hits and an RBI for Dayton. Dragons pitchers Lyon Richardson and Braxton Roxby both left the game with injury replacements. The game featured a combined 31 strikeouts. Dragons pitchers walked only two in 10 innings. The Dayton bullpen was called upon for nine innings of work, allowing three runs. Current Series vs. Fort Wayne: The Dragons are 1-1 in the series. They are batting .246 and have scored eight runs while posting an ERA of 5.00 and committing five errors. Last Series vs. Lake County: The Dragons went 2-4 in the six-game series that ended Sunday. They hit .190 as a team with 15 runs scored. They had an ERA in the series of 4.14. They had four errors in six games. Previous Series at Lansing: The Dragons went 4-2 in the six-game series at Lansing that ended August 15, outscoring the Lugnuts 50-23. The Dragons had their best offensive series of the year at Lansing. They scored 50 runs in the set, hit 12 home runs, batted .382 with runners in scoring position, and collected 26 extra base hits, all season highs for a series. They hit .293 in the series. The team ERA was 3.74. They committed three errors in six games. Another Top-20 Prospect Joins the Dragons: The Dragons have received outfielder Allan Cerda from Low-A Daytona. Cerda becomes the seventh player currently on the Dragons roster who is ranked among the Reds top-20 prospects by MLB.com. Cerda hit .242 with 14 home runs at Daytona. In final 16 games with Daytona from August 3-21, he belted seven home runs, batting .306 with a slugging percentage of .758 and an OPS of 1.147. The Dragons roster includes seven players ranked among the top-20 prospects in the Reds organization. In the recently-updated MLB.com rankings, Matt McLain is the #4 prospect in the Reds system; Mat Nelson is #11, Michael Siani is #13, Lyon Richardson is #15, Christian Roa is #16, Ivan Johnson is #18, and Allan Cerda is #19. In the mid-season update of Reds top-10 prospects by Baseball America, McLain is #4, Nelson is #11, Roa is #14, and Johnson is #15. Siani was listed by Baseball America as the “Best Athlete” and “Best Defensive Outfielder” in the Reds organization entering the season. High-A Central League Playoffs: Major League Baseball has announced that leagues at three classifications, including the High-A Central League, will conduct playoffs in September. The top two teams in each league, regardless of division, will meet in a best-of-five series. Playoff Race: The Dragons are three games behind Cedar Rapids in the race for the #2 seed in the 2021 post-season. The Mythical First Half Division Title: The Dragons were the winners of the “Mythical First Half” East Division title. Note that the league is not utilizing a split-season format in 2021. There is no First Half or Second Half, and no First Half championship race in 2021 in the High-A Central League. The Midwest League was split into two equal halves for every season from 1988-2019, and from 1956-1981. The league did not play a split season from 1982-87. First Round Fever: Matt McLain is the latest first round draft pick to play for the Dragons. Recent first round picks to play for the Dragons, with their draft year, have included Nick Lodolo (2019), Jonathan India (2018), Hunter Greene (2017), Nick Senzel (2016), Tyler Stephenson (2015), Nick Howard and Alex Blandino (2014), Phillip Ervin (2013), Nick Travieso (2012), and Robert Stephenson (2011). Every Reds “true” first round pick (selected within the first 30 picks of the draft) over the last 11 drafts has played for the Dragons except 2020 first rounder Austin Hendrick, who is currently at Low-A Daytona. Mat Nelson was a supplemental first round pick in 2021 by the Reds (Competitive Balance-A; 35th overall pick). Players taken recently by the Reds in the supplemental first round (extra picks added between the first and second round for compensatory purposes) have included Todd Frazier (2207), Jesse Winker (2012), Michael Lorenzen (2013), Taylor Trammell (2016), and Jeter Downs (2017). Player Notes • Michael Siani is hitting .356 over his last 11 games with eight extra base hits including two home runs. • Quin Cotton is hitting .333 over his last nine games, going 11 for 33 with two homers and four doubles. • Allan Cerda has gone 4 for 8 with three doubles and three RBI in his first two games with the Dragons since being promoted from Daytona. • Alex McGarry is 4 for 6 in the series with Fort Wayne. • Victor Ruiz has three home runs in his last six games. • Andy Fisher over his last six relief appearances: 10 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 14 SO. • Vin Timpanelli over his last three relief appearances: 4.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 11 SO. Team Notes • The Dayton bullpen over the last 19 games has tossed 88.1 innings and allowed just 28 earned runs, a 2.85 ERA. • Dragons pitchers are on pace to break the club record for most strikeouts per game. They have averaged 10.3 strikeouts per game this season (1010 SO in 98 G). The club record is 9.2 per game in 2011 (1,292 SO in 140 G). • Dragons pitchers are also on pace to break the club record for most walks per game. They have averaged 4.7 walks per game (457 BB in 98 G). The club record is 4.3 per game in 2005 (600 walks in 139 games). • Dayton has held at least a share of first place after 62 of the 98 games they have played this season. Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com) Fri., August 27 (7:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Christian Roa (1-1, 6.94) at Fort Wayne RH Gabe Mosser (3-5, 3.95) Sat., August 28 (6:35 p.m.): Dayton TBA at Fort Wayne LH Noel Vela (0-2, 3.06) Sun., August 29 (1:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Carson Spiers (4-3, 4.04) at Fort Wayne RH Carlos Guarate (1-5, 7.76) TODAY’S STARTING PITCHER JC KEYS (#5) Height: 5-10 Bats: R Birthdate: October 9, 1996 Acquired: Reds 23rd round selection, 2019 draft Weight: 173 Throws: R College: University of Southern Mississippi Resides: Hattiesburg, MS 2021: Opened season with Dragons, earning win in only outing (2.1 innings of relief) before being promoted to Chattanooga on May 8. Appeared in 12 games (one start) with Chattanooga, going 0-2, 6.14. Returned to Dragons on June 29. Pro Ball: After signing with the Reds, Keys went to Greeneville of the Appalachian League and saw limited game action, working 14.1 innings with a 3.77 ERA. He struck out 21 hitters and walked only seven. College: Spent four years at USM, pitching in 63 games (13 starts). In his freshman and sophomore years, he was also used as a pinch runner and late- inning defensive replacement as an outfielder. His best season on the mound came as a senior in 2019 when he made 22 relief appearances, posting an ERA of 4.65 with 49 strikeouts and only 21 hits allowed in 31 innings. High School: Keys played for one of the top high school programs in Mississippi, Oak Grove in Hattiesburg, where his team won the state championship in his junior year and was the runner-up the next season. He was 1st Team All-State as a senior, going 10-2 with a 1.64 ERA. Keys was also a quarterback on the football team in high school. Keys in 2021: Earned win on Opening Night, May 4 at Great Lakes, with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief…Promoted to Chattanooga after one appearance with Dayton…Pitched 12 times with Chattanooga, making one start…Allowed just three earned runs in first 10 outings covering 13 innings for a 2.25 ERA through June 16…Surrendered seven runs in 2.2 innings over final two appearances to raise ERA to 6.14…Returned to Dragons on June 29…As starter with Dragons: 4 GS, 5.40 ERA. As reliever with Dragons: 10 G, 4.74 ERA. Longest Outing of 2021: 5 innings on July 29 Most Pitches in a Game in 2021: 64 on July 29 Keys’ Career Stats (prior to 2021) Season Team W L ERA G GS CG SHO SV IP H R ER BB SO WHIP AVG 2019 Greeneville 1 1 3.77 5 3 0 0 0 14.1 12 7 6 7 21 1.33 .222 Career 1 1 3.77 5 3 0 0 0 14.1 12 7 6 7 21 1.33 .222 2021: Dayton (High-A Central League) Date Opp W L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG NP-S 5/4/2021 @GL 1 0 0.00 1 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .125 44 - 25 May 1 0 0.00 1 0 2.1 1 0 0 0 2 0 .125 6/29/2021 @LAN 1 0 2.08 1 0 2 2 1 1 0 1 2 .176 42 - 25 June 1 0 4.50 1 0 2 2 1 1 0 1 2 .222 7/4/2021 @LAN 0 0 3.24 1 1 4 3 2 2 0 1 2 .188 51 - 30 7/8/2021 WM 0 0 4.00 1 0 0.2 0 1 1 0 2 0 .171 22 - 10 7/11/2021 WM 0 0 6.30 1 0 1 4 3 3 0 1 3 .238 35 - 21 7/15/2021 GL 0 0 6.23 1 0 3 2 2 2 0 2 2 .226 45 - 27 7/20/2021 @FW 0 0 6.14 1 0 1.2 1 1 1 1 2 1 .224 30 - 14 7/24/2021 @FW 0 0 6.19 1 0 1.1 1 1 1 0 1 2 .222 25 - 14 7/29/2021 LC 1 0 4.71 1 1 5 2 0 0 0 3 4 .203 64 - 35 July 1 0 5.40 7 2 16.2 13 10 10 1 12 14 .210 8/4/2021 @WM 0 1 5.70 1 1 2.2 5 4 4 0 2 3 .231 51 - 26 8/8/2021 @WM 0 0 5.33 1 0 3.1 0 1 1 0 2 5 .210 45 - 26 8/14/2021 @LAN 0 0 5.14 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .204 16 -