Dragons startier Jacques Pucheu, in a spot starting assignment after working out of the bullpen 11 times this season, allowed one run on three hits with three walks and two strikeouts in four innings.
Pedro Garcia (3-1) replaced Pucheu to start the fifth inning with the Dragons leading 2-1, and tossed a pair of scoreless frames to earn the win. Spencer Stockton also threw two scoreless innings before turning it over to Braxton Roxby for the ninth. Roxby allowed a lead-off doublebut struck out the next two batters and then got a game-ending ground out to notch his fourth save of the year.
The first eight Dragons batters were retired by West Michigan starting pitcher Adam Wolf before Eric Yang tripled to deep center field in the third. Cotton followed Yang’s triple with a two-run home run to left field, his team-leading seventh of the year, to give the Dragons a 2-0 lead.
McAfee belted a solo home run in the seventh, his fourth, to make it 3-1. The Dragons added another run in the eighth on a two-out, run-scoring single by Francisco Urbaez.
The win lifted the Dragons record to 26-18. They are eight games above the .500 mark for the first time since July 7, 2017, when they were 47-39for a team that included fan favorites Jose Siri, Taylor Trammell, Tyler Stephenson, Tony Santillan, and Scott Moss.
The Race: The first-place Dragons held their two-game lead over Lake County in the East Division standings. Lake County won at Great Lakes on Wednesday.