The home team with the best attendance in the league no matter its record, showed resilience. But as has been the case too many times this season, the Dragons needed another play or two in their favor.
Dayton cut the lead to 6-5 in the seventh. Then one of the newest Dragons, Carlos Sanchez, hit a two-out, two-run homer in the ninth to cut Lake County’s lead to one.
Then the biggest deflator of the night came when Peyton Stovall hit a line drive down the right-field line that appeared headed for a game-tying home run. But the umpire ruled it foul. Then Stovall struck out.
And the Dragons lost 9-8, lost their fifth straight and quickly boarded their bus for the late-night drive to Northeast Ohio to play three more against the Captains over the weekend.
“We never quit to the last out,” Sanchez said through translation help from teammate Carlos Jorge. “We always competing, doing our best job so that when I finally get my pitch I don’t miss it.”
Sanchez joined the team June 24 and has played mostly third base and a little bit of outfield. He was 3 for 5 Thursday with an RBI triple and his second homer.
“The first couple of games, I was feeling a little bit excited — not nervous, but excited to play,“ Sanchez said. ”Sometimes I feel like I was trying to do too much, but now it’s getting better. The game has slowed down a little bit more, so that’s why I’m playing better baseball right now."
Dayton (4-8 second half) scored twice in the sixth on a double by Stovall and a single by John Michael Faile to finally chase Lake County’s Matt “Tugboat” Wilkinson (3-8).
Until then, the left-handed Wilkinson, who resembles a smaller version of former Reds pitcher David Wells, handcuffed the Dragons on three hits. Jorge reached on an infield grounder that he beat out when no one could cover first in time. Victor Acosta bunted for a hit. Yerlin Confidan’s double was the only hard-hit ball.
The Dragons got to reliever Dwayne Matos, who finished the sixth for Wilkinson with a double play, in the seventh. Leo Balcazar hit a two-run homer, his ninth, and Sanchez tripled home Confidan, who had singled.
Eight runs usually wins, but the Dragons offensive struggles much of the season are now being overshadowed by pitching struggles. The staff entered with a league-high 5.33 ERA that is on pace to set a club record.
Luke Hayden started and allowed five runs on two hits and six walks. Middle relief from Joseph Menefee and Will Cannon yielded only one run in 4 2/3 innings. But Cody Adcock allowed three crucial runs in the ninth on a two-run homer by Jose Devers followed by a solo shot by Jacob Cozart.
The Dragons will send Nick Sando, Adam Serwinowski and Jose Montero to the mound this weekend, hoping to pair better pitching with an offense that has been scoring more runs the past two weeks.
“As a team we always talk about the things that we have to improve,” Jorge said. “We always have meetings like that to talk about things we got to be better at like moving runners, like getting the bunt down. If we play as a team, we’re going to be in a better spot.”
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