But the past three nights the Dragons’ relief corps has emerged from its collective rabbit hole of over analyzing and trying to do too much. And after Myles Gayman and Joseph Menefee combined to allow only one run in four innings Saturday night, the Dragons’ bullpen ERA is 6.19 and no longer the worst in the Midwest League.
Even better for the Dragons, they defeated West Michigan 2-1 for their second three-game winning streak this season. The bullpen will certainly be needed again Sunday to make it four straight and win a series for the first time since the first one of the season.
“We had to get them back to the basics,” Garman said. “Too many of those guys were just trying to do too much. There are too many variables when they took the mound. There was a lot going on between the ears for a lot of them.”
The Dragons (12-14) got a third straight strong start as well. Jared Lyons pitched five scoreless innings, allowed two hits, walked two and struck out seven.
“The last few days our starters have got deep into the game and we’ve been putting ourselves in a better position to finish games off,” Dragons manager Vince Harrison said. “It’s just attention to small details, things that are being harped on, and they’re just starting to sink in.”
Something sunk in for Gayman, who pitched all of 2023 in Dayton. He entered the game with a 12.75 ERA in five appearances. In his last appearance on April 26 in Lansing, he allowed six runs. But this time he retired the first seven batters he faced until a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt led to the Whitecaps’ only run in the eighth.
“I was thrilled for Myles,” Garman said. “He did an excellent job, and talking to him after the game he just felt better. He’s just in a better place mentally, and I told him it’s manifesting itself physically.”
With two outs and a runner at second, Menefee, a left-hander, replaced Gayman and ended the inning with a ground out on one pitch.
“That’s just what you go for coming out of the bullpen in those situations,” Menefee said. “You got to have your best stuff from the get go.”
Menefee struck out the first two batters in the ninth, but the second one reached when the ball got away from catcher Cade Hunter and his throw to first was over first baseman Ruben Ibarra’s head. A single and wild pitch put runners at second and third with two outs. But Menefee struck out Danny Serretti swinging to end the game.
“My best swing-and-miss pitch in that situation is the splitter,” Menefee said. “I just trusted it and threw it with all the conviction.”
The Dragons took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Hunter scored from first on Victor Acosta’s second triple of the season. In the sixth, Jay Allen II singled, advance to third on consecutive ground outs and scored on a wild pitch.
Then it was up to the bullpen to continue it’s sudden turnaround of a 2.70 ERA (three runs in 10 innnings) during the winning streak.
“You see a guy go and have a great outing and it builds off of the energy,” Menefee said. “You want to go match that, you want to go be better. So it’s just like a little competition within ourselves to who can be the best. And it just lifts all boats.”
About the Author