But for the first time this season Tuesday night, the Dragons entered the seventh inning down four runs. And it only got worse in a 9-2 loss to West Michigan at Day Air Ballpark.
“We kind of knew that would happen at some point,” Harrison said. “But a lot more credit goes to their guy because we saw some ugly swings early, which makes me feel like the shadows could have been an issue. You just don’t see Hector (Rodriguez) and Sal (Stewart) and Cam (Collier) miss fastballs like that.”
West Michigan’s guy was Jaden Hamm, who struck out five and allowed three hits in four innings. Three relievers kept the Dragons down, too. Hamm, a fifth-round pick last year, lowered his ERA to 1.33.
Hamm wasn’t untouchable. The Dragons (9-13) put the lead-off man on base in each of the first four innings – singles by Jay Allen II, Collier and Stewart and an error off the bat of Leo Balcazar – but none of them advanced a base and two were cut down on double plays. And in the fifth Victor Acosta hit a one-out double but the next two struck out.
“I don’t think offensively we applied much pressure,” Harrison said. “But their starter, I thought he mixed well, he did a good job of controlling the running game.”
The Dragons will see Hamm again on Sunday.
All the Dragons could muster against the Whitecaps’ bullpen was Rodriguez’s solo homer, his third of the season, in the sixth and Hunter’s RBI double in the ninth.
The Whitecaps (9-13) got the best of Dayton’s pitching tandem of Bryce Hubbart and Ryan Cardona for the first time this season. They alternate starting and relieving for each other and combined to pitch the Dragons to three of their first nine victories.
But Tuesday wasn’t their night for run support or for holding the opposition down as they allowed eight extra-base hits. Hubbart (1-1) pitched into the sixth inning for the first time by either pitcher. He allowed five earned runs on six hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. Cardona finished and allowed two earned runs on six hits.
The Whitecaps’ hitters did what the Dragons couldn’t. A double and single in the second inning started the scoring. The Whitecaps went single, double, double, strikeout, single to plate three runs for a 5-0 lead in the sixth. And before and after that, ninth-place hitter and catcher Josh Crouch doubled his home run total with solo shots to lead off the third and seventh innings.
The only thing that didn’t go the Whitecaps way was an eighth-inning leadoff double by Luke Gold. He thought he had a home run until the umpires, with the help of Harrison, got together and correctly ruled that the ball hit off the bottom of the right-field wall.
But two outs later Izaac Pacheco tripled him home for a 7-1 lead. And just for fun the Whitecaps added two more runs in the ninth with the help of two errors by first baseman Ruben Ibarra.
Lowder award: The Midwest League named Dragons starter Rhett Lowder its pitcher of the week for April 22-28. In his lone start, Lowder earned his first professional victory. He allowed an unearned run on three hits and one walk and struck out nine in six innings. He’s the first Dragons starter to go six innings this season and the strikeouts are a team high. The Reds drafted Lowder out of Wake Forest in the first round in 2023. His next start is Friday.
About the Author