Dragons fall to Fort Wayne

Dayton's Francisco Urbaez during a game earlier this season Jeff Gilbert/CONTRIBUTED

Dayton's Francisco Urbaez during a game earlier this season Jeff Gilbert/CONTRIBUTED

The Fort Wayne TinCaps broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the sixth inning and then added three more in the seventh to defeat the Dayton Dragons 9-3 on Wednesday night. The two clubs have split the first two games of the six-game set in Fort Wayne.

The Dragons jumped out to an early lead, scoring one run in the top of the first inning and another in the second to lead 2-0. But Fort Wayne tied the game in the fourth on a two-run home run by Luis Almanzar.

Fort Wayne scored four runs in the sixth, all with two outs, to take a 6-2 lead. The TinCaps collected three doubles in the inning against Dayton reliever Pedro Garcia (6-3).

The Dragons loaded the bases with one out in the top of the seventh and cut into the deficit on James Free’s sacrifice fly to make it 6-3, but Fort Wayne responded with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to jump ahead 9-3 and close out the scoring.

Francisco Urbaez had a single, double, and run scored to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. That places Urbaez among the top-10 in longest hitting streaks in Dragons history. Miguel Hernandez also had two hits, including an RBI double. Michael Siani added a triple with a run scored.

Dayton starting pitcher Lyon Richardson worked four innings and was not involved in the decision. He pitched scoreless baseball over the first three frames before surrendering the game-tying two-run homer to Almanzar in the fourth.  Richardson allowed four hits while walking three and striking out three.

Despite the loss, the Dragons remained in first place, one-half game ahead of both Lake County and Great Lakes in the East Division of the High-A Central League.