Dragons fall to Whitecaps

The Dayton Dragons played their home opener on Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2023 at Day Air Ballpark in downtown Dayton to a sellout crowd of 8,135, extending the team’s streak to 1,442 games, an all-time record for professional sports franchises. The Dragons lost to the Great Lakes Loons 9-7. Did we spot you there? TOM GILLIAM/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

Credit: Tom Gilliam

Credit: Tom Gilliam

The Dayton Dragons played their home opener on Tuesday, Apr. 11, 2023 at Day Air Ballpark in downtown Dayton to a sellout crowd of 8,135, extending the team’s streak to 1,442 games, an all-time record for professional sports franchises. The Dragons lost to the Great Lakes Loons 9-7. Did we spot you there? TOM GILLIAM/CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHER

The West Michigan Whitecaps scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh and one more in the eighth to overcome a 4-2 deficit and defeat the Dayton Dragons 5-4 on Saturday.

The Dragons trailed 1-0 when Michael Trautwein drilled a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to give them a 2-1 lead. The Dragons added another run in the same inning when Jack Rogers walked, went to second on a balk, and scored on Jose Serrano’s two-out single to center to make it 5-3.

West Michigan scored one run in the bottom of the sixth to pull to within one, but the Dragons responded with a run in the top of the seventh. Rogers doubled to start the inning, went to third on an error, and scored on Serrano’s ground out to make it 4-2.

In the bottom of the eighth, Dayton third baseman Austin Callahan’s throwing error to start the inning opened the door to a rally for West Michigan. After a single by Izaac Pacheco, Jace Jung doubled to bring in one run, and two batters later, Roberto Campos delivered a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Both runs were unearned.

The Whitecaps scored the tie-breaking run in the bottom of the eighth when Dragons reliever Donovan Benoit was called for a balk with a runner at third base.

Dragons starting pitcher Julian Aguiar allowed just one run in four innings, giving up two hits and three walks with six strikeouts. But the Dayton bullpen combined to allow four runs in four innings.

On Friday night, Edwin Arroyo blasted a two-run home run to highlight a five-run seventh inning in a 7-3 Dragons’ win.

The Dragons collected a season-high 11 hits in the game, including five in the seventh inning. Austin Hendrick, Tyler Callihan, Austin Callahan, and Hayden Jones each had two hits.

SUNDAY’S GAME

Dragons at Whitecaps, 2 p.m., 980

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