The Dragons tied a season high with four home runs in the game, including back-to-back tape-measure shots by Ruben Ibarra (436′) and Austin Hendrick (446′) in the sixth. Hendrick had two homers on the night. But the biggest home run came from Jorge in the top of the ninth, his first homer since being called up from Daytona.
The Dragons had taken a 4-0 lead, only to see Great Lakes score three in the bottom of the sixth and two more in the seventh to jump ahead 5-4. The Dragons still trailed as they came to bat in the ninth. Hector Rodriguez hit the first pitch of the inning for a single to left field to put the tying run on base. Jorge followed with a home run to right to give the Dragons the lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Dragons reliever John Murphy walked the first hitter but worked out of potential trouble when he got a double play grounder from the next batter, keyed by an excellent backhanded stop by Dayton shortstop Edwin Arroyo. Murphy then got a strikeout to end the game and earn the save.
Dragons starting pitcher Kevin Abel was outstanding. He left the game in the sixth with the Loons still scoreless, leaving a runner at first with two outs when he was removed after throwing his 90th pitch of the night. Abel was eventually charged with one run in 5 2/3 innings on just two hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
Hendrick had his first two-homer game of the season, giving him 13 home runs on the year. Ibarra’s homer was his 14th of the year.
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