The first three Lugnuts batters in the first inning all delivered hits against Dragons starting pitcher Nestor Lorant. Lansing scored one run in the inning as Lorant worked out of a bases loaded jam with two strikeouts to avoid further damage. The Lugnuts closed out the scoring with two runs in the fourth inning as they jumped in front 3-0.
The Dragons had two good chances to score in the game. Johnny Ascanio lined a double to the left field corner to begin the game and advanced to third on a fly out to right by Carlos Jorge. But Anthony Stephan grounded out to first base with Ascanio holding at third, and Carter Graham grounded out to third to end the threat. Then in the fourth, the Dragons got a hit from Yerlin Confidan and after an error, they had runners at first and third with one out. But John Michael Faile struck out and Ryan McCrystal flied to left to strand both runners.
The Dragons got a lead-off single from Ariel Almonte in the fifth, but that turned out to be their last hit of the night. They did not advance a runner past first base over the final five innings.
Dragons reliever Tejay Antone made his second appearance since returning from his third Tommy John elbow surgery. Antone faced eight batters, going one and two-third innings, allowing one hit, one walk, and a hit batsman, but no runs. He struck out two. His fastball was consistently 95-96 mph and he also utilized a slider and curve.
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