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Homestand not what Dragons expected

Dayton drops seven of  10 games to land in 6th, 14½ games out of 1st.

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By Marc Katz, Staff Writer 3:24 AM Saturday, May 16, 2009

DAYTON — The homestand at Fifth Third Field didn’t help.

Today, as the Dragons head for Lansing to begin a 10-game road trip, they’re further behind first place West Michigan than they were when they started a 10-day homestand.

West Michigan beat the Dragons again, 5-2 on Friday, May 15, the seventh loss in 10 home games, and third in four games to the Whitecaps.

When the homestand began, the Dragons were in sixth place, 12 games out of first in the Class A Midwest League East. Now, they’re:

• In sixth place, 141/2 games behind West Michigan.

• Hitting .239 as a team, 13th out of 14 MWL clubs.

• Last in pitching with a 5.61 ERA.

• They have hit 15 homers, third worst in the league, and allowed 37 — two on Friday — the most.

“You can’t say this homestand we turned the corner,” said manager Todd Benzinger. “But (starting pitcher Curtis) Partch was impressive. That’s as good as you’ll see a guy who left the game losing 5-1.”

The Dragons actually led 2-1 on a Cody Puckett homer in the third, but three Whitecaps runs in the sixth ruined Dayton’s evening.

Help is not immediately on the way.

Reds farm director Terry Reynolds, who has watched the last four games, said the Reds will likely have to wait until the June draft to see if they can secure any other players who will help.

One player who will not be here soon — if at all — is top pitching prospect Kyle Lotzkar, who broke a bone in his pitching elbow here last summer, and has not yet recovered. In fact, he has had a setback, and may even have rebroken the bone.

Not only that, but team broadcaster Tom Nichols will miss only the second game in his career today when he goes home to Muncie, Ind., to be inducted into the Delaware County Athletic Hall of Fame. Nichols has broadcast more than 1,000 games in each of two leagues — the Southern League and the Midwest League.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.