“That’s for the birds,” manager Bryan LaHair said. “We lost.”
The loss especially stung because the Dragons blew a two-run lead in the ninth and lost 9-8 to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, a team that finished in last place in the Midwest League West Division in the season’s first half.
The Dragons are 9-10 in the second half, tied for third in the six-team East Division and are 42-43 overall. LaHair’s vision for this team since the start of the season was to be above average and contend for a playoff berth. The Dragons are three games out of first place, so they are far from out of it.
“We’ve got 47 games left to prove we’re not an average team,” LaHair said. “That’s the way I look at it. We’re either going to be average, we’re going to stay average or we’re going to take off and be better than that.”
Because LaHair has believed in the talent since spring training, he said he has no reason to believe his team won’t get where it wants to go. But they will need to win games like the one they lost Tuesday and improve their 11-22 record in one-run games.
Owen Holt, who has moved into more of a late-game relief role with the promotion of Jake Gozzo and Vin Timpanelli to AA, has locked down opponents for almost two months. He entered the game with only one run allowed in his past 17 2/3 innings since May 28. He entered with two out in the ninth, runners at first and third and got a strikeout.
Holt, it seemed, would pitch the ninth and the Dragons would complete an 8-6 victory. But after an opening strikeout, he allowed a homer, consecutive doubles and a single to fall behind.
“He’s been doing a good job but it doesn’t stop there,” LaHair said. “It has to continue. It’s not a three in a row, four in a row type thing. It’s got to be every time. That’s the reality of the sport. It’s a tough break, but I plan on using him again in that spot.”
The Dragons led 1-0, 3-0, 6-5 and 8-6. They had 12 hits, walked nine times and struck out only nine times, more than two below their average. Jay Allen II had three hits, Edwin Arroyo, Austin Hendrick and new catcher Cade Hunter up from Daytona had two hits apiece. Hendrick knocked in three runs.
“We scored some runs and those are games you have to win,” LaHair said.
The Dragons did threaten in the bottom of the ninth as they often do in tight games. Hunter singled to open the inning. Then he advanced to second on an alert baserunning play when Justice Thompson popped out to the catcher behind home plate. The catcher made the out right at the net, but he fell down and Hunter sped to second.
With two outs, Allen II was hit by a pitch, but Austin Callahan, the Dragons’ leading hitter at .259, grounded out to end the game.
Kevin Abel, who was promoted from Daytona, made his first start for the Dragons. He pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, all earned, on six hits and two walks. Abel is a seventh-round draft pick from Oregon State in 2021.
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