“He’s the MVP of the game so I’m happy for him,” Dragons manager Jose Moreno said.
The scene of the Dragons (21-16) rushing the field in celebration has become a common sight. Eight of their wins have come after trailing by three runs or more. Over the past five years the Dragons have averaged 5.6 such comebacks a season.
Last Tuesday against Great Lakes the Dragons rallied from a 7-0 deficit to win 8-7. On Wednesday, they trailed 5-3 in the ninth when Ozuna hit a two-run homer to tie the score. The Dragons scored again in the ninth for their first walk-off win.
“Even though we were down the game was close,” Dragons manager Jose Moreno said. “At this level, 4-1, that’s not a big difference.”
After five hits and one run through eight innings, the Dragons pieced together five hits and a walk in the ninth. Francisco Urbaez singled to start the inning. One out later, Juan Martinez singled to center, and Urbaez scored when center fielder Jawuan Harris let the ball get past him for an error.
Michael Siani singled to center to score Martinez to make the score 4-3. Siani stole second and moved to third on Miguel Hernandez’s single. After Eric Yang walked, Ozuna delivered the winner.
“They worked the counts, pitcher made a mistake and they were able to put the barrel on it,” Moreno said of the rally.
For Ozuna, the situation was much like when he hit the big homer last week. In that game he struck out twice before the ninth inning. On Tuesday he was 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a walk, and Moreno said he was overswinging and chasing bad pitches.
“He was calm and tried to wait for a real good pitch to drive,” Moreno said of the ninth-inning at-bat. “He worked the count, went 3-1. First pitch was close but was out of the strike zone and he took it and the backdoor slider as well. Those at-bats are what’s going to give you the experience to go to the next level.”
Hernandez had two hits to extend his hitting streak to nine games and is batting .361 during the streak to raise his average to .271. His hit in the ninth was the bridge from the first to runs to Ozuna.
“If we don’t get Miggy to hit that base hit, we don’t get to Ozuna,” Moreno said. “So everybody had a big contribution to get the win today.”
Eduardo Salazar started and allowed two earned runs on five hits in five innings and struck out a season-high 10. Salazar left trailing 3-1. Andy Fisher pitched two scoreless innings. Andy Fisher allowed a run in the eighth and Braxton Roxby pitched the ninth for his first win.
Martinez homered in the fourth for his third of the season to cut Fort Wayne’s lead to 2-1.
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