Dragons fall to West Michigan

Five West Michigan pitchers combined to allow four hits as the Whitecaps edged the Dayton Dragons 3-2 on Tuesday night.

The Dragons fell to 6-17 in the second half with the loss (45-44 overall). West Michigan, the division leader, improved to 19-6 in the second half (50-41 overall).

West Michigan scored two runs in the third inning and one more in the fifth to build a 3-0 lead, and held off a Dragons comeback bid. Dayton pulled to within a run in the sixth on a two-out, two-run home run by Austin Hendrick. The homer was Hendrick’s seventh with the Dragons and 14th overall in the Reds organization in 2022.

But the Dragons had only one more hit over the final three innings, a ninth inning two-out single by Quincy McAfee. With McAfee at first representing the tying run, Tyler Callihan battled through a lengthy at-bat before lining out to left-center field to end the game.

Dragons starting pitcher Evan Kravetz (4-5) was charged with the loss. Kravetz worked four innings, allowing five hits and two runs with one walk and three strikeouts.

Notes:  Prior to the game, the Dragons placed first baseman Ruben Ibarra on the injured list with a broken thumb suffered on a defensive play on Saturday night.  Catcher Daniel Vellojin was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga. The Dragons received four players: outfielder Brian Rey, infielder Steven Leyton, catcher Michael Trautwein, and relief pitcher Jayvien Sandridge.

Up Next:  The Dragons play at West Michigan again on Wednesday at 6:35 p.m. Miguel Medrano (1-2, 6.05) will start for Dayton against West Michigan’s Ty Madden (4-4, 2.92).