Dragons rally to win 6th straight

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

Austin Callahan hit a two-run home run, Jay Allen II added a solo shot, and three Dayton pitchers combined to allow only three hits as the Dragons defeated the Great Lakes Loons 4-3 on Thursday night for their sixth straight win.

The win left the Dragons just one game behind first-place Fort Wayne in the Midwest League’s East Division entering play Friday night.

The Dragons trailed 2-1 in the top of the third inning when Edwin Arroyo singled. After Arroyo stole second, Callahan followed with an opposite field home run to left to give the Dragons a 3-2 lead.

Allen II blasted a long home run to left in the fourth. The homer was estimated at 461 feet and gave the Dragons a 4-2 lead.

Dragons starting pitcher Jose Acuña settled down after allowing two walks and two runs in the first inning. Acuña allowed just two base runners, both on walks, over the next five innings as he kept the Loons from scoring. He left the game after the sixth with a 4-2 lead. Acuña (7-1) allowed just one hit and two runs in six innings with four walks and three strikeouts.

Mac Sceroler entered the game on a Minor League injury rehabilitation assignment in the seventh. Sceroler, who pitched for the Dragons in 2018 and appeared in five Major League games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2021, is on the injured list with Double-A Chattanooga. He worked a perfect seventh inning before allowing hits to the first two batters in the eighth. A pair of ground outs brought in one run, but Sceroler got out of the inning, stranding runners at first and third.

John Murphy walked two in the ninth, but got out of a jam to notch his second save.

Austin Hendrick and Ruben Ibarra had two hits apiece for Dayton.

SATURDAY’S GAME

Dragons at Loons, 7:05 p.m., 980

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