Fort Wayne, however, answered just about every opportunity it got. The TinCaps collected 17 hits, like gathering shells on a seashore, limited the Dragons to one hit and won 10-0 on the second night of the second half of the Midwest League season.
The Dragons finished the first half 23 games out of first place. They were counting on the reset of the standings to 0-0 to be a boost. So far, not so good.
The Dragons are 0-2 with a final game against Fort Wayne at 1:05 p.m. Sunday. Then it’s off to Lansing, the second-place team in the first half.
The most costly moments came in the first inning.
After Roberts’ home run, the Dragons seemed to be turning a double play until first baseman John Michael Faile dropped the throw. Luke Hayden struck out the next two, so no harm was done on the scoreboard.
After Acosta’s double, Carlos Jorge’s sacrifice bunt attempt turned into a popout to the pitcher. Then Yerlin Confidan ripped a grounder up the middle. But instead of reaching center field and scoring Jorge, the ball ricocheted off the pitcher to the shortstop, and Confidan was thrown out.
Harrison Jr. remembered each of those plays, long forgotten by the end of the game, as critical to starting well and being possible momentum swings.
“We drop a throw that should have been a double play but ended up not hurting us,” he began. “But then we get a hit and pop up a bunt, which was guy trying to make the right play, but it doesn’t work out. Next ball gets hit off the guy or would be a run. We go from being at a really ideal spot to having zero after we should have turned to double play and we didn’t. So we just have to clean up all the things we can. We need to play cleaner baseball, which could be momentum swings.”
From the second inning on, Fort Wayne piled up its runs methodically. Other than Roberts’ home run, doubles by Brandon Butterworth and Jack Costello in the sixth and a Butterworth solo homer in the eighth, it was death by a thousand singles. A four-run sixth blew the game open at 7-0.
“They’re swinging and hitting it,” Harrison Jr. said. “That’s what I see.”
Meanwhile, 16 straight Dragons made outs until Faile walked in the sixth. They were popping up, grounding out and striking out. Only four batters reached base, three by walk. But the worst part was eight of the 12 strikeouts were looking. Carter Graham and Ariel Almonte were guilty twice.
“So many non-competitive at bats that finished with us looking at pitches in the zone,” Harrison Jr. said. “You can’t win if you don’t compete.”
Harrison Jr. and his staff will continue the day-to-day coaching to develop their players and, they hope by extension, develop winning habits before too long.
“One of the challenges about this level is some guys are closer to the big leagues, and a lot of guys are further,” Harrison Jr. said. “When you blend that, and you bring the lack of experience, the constant learning happening in front of you, you’re going to see some ugly baseball at times, but it doesn’t speak always to their ability. You have to perform, and sometimes the performance doesn’t reflect the work you put in or your ability.”
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