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Dragons win on walkoff homer
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DAYTON — Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg wasn't in the crowd Wednesday, July 23, at Fifth Third Field, so another second baseman, Angel Cabrera, did a good impersonation.
Cabrera, playing for the Dayton Dragons, hit a home run on the third pitch he saw from Peoria reliever Steve Vento to begin the ninth and finish the game, 4-3, in Dayton's favor, the Dragons' 12th victory in 14 games.
Cabrera's homer over the left-field fence came on an 0-2 pitch, which had the 40th-round draft pick thinking before he ended the game as Dayton's first batter of the inning.
"You want to keep an at-bat going until you see every pitch a pitcher has," Cabrera said. "He threw me a fast ball and a slider (both of which Cabrera fouled off). He didn't have a change up. At least he didn't throw a change up to anybody else. I thought he'd come back with a slider, and he did."
Sandberg, at Hall of Fame festivities in Cooperstown this week, is Peoria's manager and will miss this series. He probably thought the Chiefs were playing well enough for him to leave.
After losing their first five games of the second half, the Chiefs went 21-5 into Wednesday's game, took a 1-0 lead in the second with an unearned run and added two more in the fourth on a two-run Rebel Ridling homer for a 3-0 lead.
It began to fade away in the sixth when third baseman Brandon Waring hit his 16th homer, then the Dragons tied it with back-to-back RBI singles by right fielder Denis Phipps and catcher Devin Mesoraco in the eighth.
"(Cabrera) got a good pitch to hit with two strikes," Scott said. "And I was proud of the at-bats Phipps and Mesoraco gave us (in the eighth)."
Meanwhile, starter Luis Montano turned in another fine performance, even though he didn't get the victory, and new reliever Aguido Gonzalez continued his near perfect season with a three-batter ninth to record his first victory.
At three stops this season, Gonzalez — who has pitched at high A Sarasota, rookie Billings and now with the Dragons — has allowed only one unearned run.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157
or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
»Dragons Insider, B2»View a photo gallery from the game at DaytonDailyNews.com.
