Both starting pitchers were exceptional as Dayton’s Brian Edgington and Fort Wayne’s Enmanuel Pinales both went deep into the game. Edgington became the first Dayton pitcher in 2025 to work beyond five innings. He tossed six strong frames, allowing just four hits and one run with one walk and six strikeouts. Edgington retired the final nine batters he faced. Meanwhile, Pinales worked seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits without walking a batter.
The Dragons took the lead in the third inning when Anthony Stephan lined a double to the left field corner, advanced to third on Johnny Ascanio’s ground out, and scored on Connor Burns’ line drive single to left to make it 1-0.
Fort Wayne tied the game in the fourth on a lead-off solo home run by Rosman Verdugo, his league-leading sixth homer of the year.
In the bottom of the seventh, Fort Wayne put runners at first and third with two outs against Dragons reliever Jimmy Romano (1-1). Jose Sanabria lined a hard one-hopper to shortstop that Leo Balcazar fielded as he leaned backwards and went to the ground. Balcazar quickly got to his feet but bounced the throw to first base, and Dayton’s John Michael could not catch it cleanly, allowing Sanabria to reach safely as the runner from third crossed the plate to give Fort Wayne a 2-1 lead.
The Dragons did not have a base runner over the final two innings against Fort Wayne closer Tyson Neighbors, who retired all six batters he faced, including four on strikeouts, to earn the save.
The Dragons had four hits by four different players without drawing a walk in the game. Stephan’s double was the only extra base hit. John Michael Faile was 0 for 3 as his 13-game hitting streak came to an end.
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