The Dragons (36-20) entered the week with a 7.5-game lead over the Loons (33-24). The Dragons won Tuesday to reduce their magic number to seven against the Loons. Five days layer the Loons are no closer to elimination. The magic number is still seven with 10 games to play and they trail the Dragons by only 3.5 games.
The Dragons, who lost their first series this season, begin a six-game series at Cedar Rapids on Tuesday. The Kernels lead the West Division and now own the league’s best record at 37-20. The final four games of the first half will be at home against third-place Lake County (30-26).
The Dragons played their worst defensive inning of the season in the fourth, committing more than one error for the first time as the Loons sent 11 batters to the plate. The Dragons committed three errors and saw a 1-0 deficit grow to 6-0 with five unearned runs against starter James Proctor.
After a leadoff single, Jose Ramos hit a possible double-play bouncer that shortstop Elly De La Cruz bobbled for an error and all runners were safe. Another single loaded the bases and third baseman Nick Quintana committed an error that let two runs score for a 3-0 Loons lead.
A throwing error by right fielder Allan Cerda allowed runners to advance to second and third. A groundout followed and it was 4-0. Cerda then got a late jump on what turned out to be a single and 5-0 lead. After the two-hour rain delay, reliever Vin Timpanelli walked in the inning’s fifth run before getting a strikeout to end the inning.
The Loons added three runs in the fifth for a 9-0 lead because of an infield hit that got past Timpanelli and a bloop single that fell in between three Dragons in shallow right field.
The Dragons lead the league in striking out and continued the trend Sunday. From the second out of the first inning through the end of third, eight straight batters struck out against Kendall Williams. The Dragons struck out 18 times in the game and every Dragon struck out.
Quintana had an RBI single in the fifth, Garrett Wolforth hit a two-run homer in the seventh and Cerda hit a two-run single in the ninth. The Dragons were 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position and 8-for-63 in the series for a .127 batting average.
McGarry moves up: The Reds promoted first baseman Alex McGarry to Double-A Chattanooga on Saturday. McGarry signed with the Reds in 2020 out of Oregon State after not being selected when the draft was shortened to five rounds. In his first game Saturday with the Lookouts, McGarry was 1-for-5 with an RBI. McGarry led the league with a .604 slugging percentage and the team with a .939 OPS while batting .286. He left sharing the team lead of 11 homers and 37 RBIs with Elly De La Cruz.
Marinan off 40-man: The Reds removed Dragons pitcher James Marinan from the 40-man roster by designating him for assignment. Marinan could stay in the Reds’ organization if he clears waivers. Marinan, 23, was 2-3 with 7.71 ERA in four starts and 10 appearances overall.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Cedar Rapids, 7:35 p.m., 980
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