August 17, 2024 – Midwest League (MWL)
Dayton Dragons press release
Saturday, August 17, 2024 l Game No. 47 (113)
Parkview Field l Fort Wayne, Indiana l 6:35 p.m.
Radio: Fox Sports 980 WON
Dayton Dragons (28-18, 62-50) at Fort Wayne TinCaps (17-29, 45-67)
RH Mason Pelio (0-3, 7.31) vs. LH Jagger Haynes (2-5, 3.90)
Game today: The Dayton Dragons (affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds) face the Fort Wayne TinCaps (affiliate of the San Diego Padres) in the fifth game of a six-game series. Season series between Dayton and Fort Wayne: Dayton 14, Fort Wayne 8 (in Fort Wayne: Dayton 8, Fort Wayne 2).
In the standings: The Dragons are one and a half games ahead of West Michigan in the Midwest League’s East Division (2nd half) with 20 games remaining. Great Lakes is three games behind the first place team.
Series/Trends: The Dragons are 28-15 (.651) in their last 43 games. They are 49-31 (.613) in their last 80 games (since May 12).
Last game: Friday: Dayton 6, Fort Wayne 5. John Michael Faile hit his second home run in two nights, his first two games in full-season minor league baseball, and Cam Collier had a key two-run single. Ethan O’Donnell had three hits and Hector Rodriguez had a triple and a single.
Current series (August 13-18 in Fort Wayne): Dayton is 3-1 in the series.
Dayton team stats in the Series: .286 batting average (42 for 147); 6.5 runs/game (26 R, 4 G); 3 home runs; 2 stolen bases; 3.34 ERA (35 IP, 13 ER); 6 errors.
Team notes
The Dragons are 15-2 when their starting pitcher goes 6+ innings and 39-10 when the starter goes 5+.
The Dragons rank second in Minor League Baseball (120 teams) in average attendance (8,011) behind league leader Indianapolis (8,248).
Player Notes
New Dragons catcher/first baseman John Michael Faile finished his five-year college career at North Greenville University as the NCAA Division II record holder for home runs and RBIs, twice posting a batting average over .400 and once winning his conference’s Triple Crown. Faile hit a home run in his second at-bat with the Dragons on Thursday and another home run on Friday.
Leo Balcazar has a safe hitting streak of 15 consecutive games, the longest hitting streak by a Dayton player since Francisco Urbaez hit 15 consecutive games in 2021. The last Dayton player with a longer hitting streak was Jose (Garcia) Barrero with 17 in 2018. During his hitting streak, Balcazar has a batting average of .317 (20 for 63) with two home runs.
Ethan O’Donnell in his last 18 games: 30 for 76 (.395), 2 HR, 7 2B, 4 3B. O’Donnell is tied for the leader in both hits and extra-base hits in August in full-season Minor League Baseball (120 teams).
Jay Allen II in his last 10 games: 11 for 31 (.355), 1 HR, 1 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 7 BB. Allen broke the franchise record for hits-by-pitch in a season with 21 (previous record was 17).
Starting pitcher Ryan Cardona since July 1: 6 GS, 5-0, 1.36 ERA, 32.2 IP, 14 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 6 BB, 33 SO, .128 opposing batting average. Cardona was named the Reds Minor League Pitcher of the Month for July. In July, Cardona made four starts and went 3-0 with a 1.74 ERA.
Reliever Simon Miller in his first 11 appearances since being called up from Daytona: 19 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 9 BB, 22 SO, 1.42 ERA, 4 Sv.
Reliever Cody Adcock in his last 3 games: 6.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 9 SO.
Upcoming Probable Pitchers (Game times are Dayton time) (All games on WONE 980 AM and www.daytondragons.com)
Sunday, August 18 (1:05 p.m.): Dayton RH Gabriel Aguilera (1-4, 5.35) at Fort Wayne RH Braden Nett (3-1, 5.10)
Tuesday, August 20 (7:05 p.m.): Cedar Rapids TBA at Dayton LH TJ Sikkema (3-3, 4.21)
Dragons ticket information: daytondragons.com/tickets Dragons 2024 schedule: milb.com/dayton/schedule
• Discuss this story on the Midwest League message board…
The opinions expressed in this press release are those of the issuing organization and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its employees.
