After the first game is complete, the teams will play a seven-inning contest. Though it’s not an ideal way to start the season, Dragons manger Luis Bolivar said it’s not a bad situation since player exhaustion won’t be an issue.
“Our guys won’t be too tired from only playing a little and it being so early in the season,” Bolivar said. “We’ll have to use maybe more relievers than we would have, but it shouldn’t change our rotation or anything.”
Todd Issacs homered to left field in the first inning to give Lake County a 1-0 lead, but the Dragons responded in the bottom of the inning with a home run by Taylor Trammell. The Captains scored two runs in the fourth — including one after a wild pitch — before the game was stopped.
Dragons tales: Starting pitcher Tony Santillan has been responsible for many outs in the last two seasons for the Dragons, usually on strikeouts or fielding plays. But he did something that Bolivar had never seen in any game by getting two pickoffs to end the second inning.
After Lake County’s Alexis Pantoja hit a line drive single to center field, Santillan picked him off at first base for the second out. Conner Capel then advanced on a walk, but after throwing two balls to Erlin Cerda, Santillan threw back to first and picked off Capel, who was a second late trying to dive back to the base.
“You never stop seeing new things in baseball — that’s the beauty of the game,” Bolivar said. “That’s great for Tony that he has the quick move to first. It’s nice that he has confidence when someone gets on base and has that weapon to be able to get out of bad situations.”
On deck: After Friday's seven-inning game, which follows completion of the suspended game, the Dragons will travel to the Cleveland suburb of Eastlake for a pair games against the Captains on Saturday and Sunday.
Scott Moss will get his first start for Dayton in Friday’s second game. He started 10 games for Billings last season and had a 2.35 ERA and 29 strikeouts.
Moss, a 6-foot-6 left-hander, tore his UCL in 2014 while playing for the University of Florida and missed two seasons. He finally saw playing time for the Gators last year and had a 1.57 ERA in 14 games. He signed with the Reds in late July.
About the Author