“It’s nice to be home,” beamed Dragons manager Luis Bolivar. “As they say, sweet home. It feels good to be back after a rough road trip and everybody feels the same way.”
Game changer: Dragons pitching was supreme, but it was Vasquez who provided the punch. He had a solo homer in the second inning to begin the Dragons' scoring and added a two-run bomb in the fourth. Last year's Dragons leader in homers and RBIs entered play with one homer.
That was the first two-homer game for the Dragons since Narciso Crook put two on Lake County in August 2015.
Wednesday at Bowling Green, Vasquez was called upon to pitch in the eighth inning after Dayton trailed 9-1. Instructed to throw fastballs only, he topped out at 85 mph and struck out two.
“It was pretty exciting,” said the Palm City, Florida product. “We needed to give our pitching a little break. I was on the bench that day and they asked me if I could pitch. I wasn’t really nervous as I thought I was going to be. It was fun to get on the mound.”
Vazquez hadn’t pitched since high school, “five or six years ago,” he said. “I struck two guys out and they told our catcher, oh, man, this is unbelievable, or something like that.”
Dragons catcher Tyler Stephenson also had two hits, scored twice and produced two RBIs. John Sansone added a triple and collected three RBIs.
Dragons starting pitcher Tony Santillan (1-1) allowed two hits and struck out six over a scoreless five innings and earned his first win. Jesse Adams surrendered the shutout in two middle innings and Jesse Stallings worked the final two scoreless innings.
“(Vasquez) helped out (Wednesday) night and he came up big for us (Thursday),” Bolivar said. “Hopefully, he can stay hot now.”
PLAYER PROFILE: Aaron Fossas, P
PLAYER PROFILE: Hector Vargas, SS
PLAYER PROFILE: Luis Gonzalez, SS
PLAYER PROFILE: Michael Beltre, OF
Dragons tales: The win snapped a two-game losing skid for Dayton (12-9). The Dragons are tied for second in the division, one game behind South Bend (Cubs).
• Scott Moss (1-1, 4.05 ERA) is ticketed as Friday’s starting Dragons pitcher. He’ll oppose Leo Crawford (0-1, 4.60 ERA). That will be followed by games on Saturday and Sunday, both of which will be televised on CW Ch. 26.1, Spectrum Ch. 13 and 1013, Direct TV and DISH Ch. 26.
FACEBOOK: For more sports you should like Marc Pendleton
TODAY’S GAME
Great Lakes at Dayton, 7 p.m.
WONE-AM (980)
MORE ONLINE
View photos and video at DaytonDailyNews.com
About the Author