Dragons top TinCaps for third straight win

Dayton starting pitcher Javi Rivera fired five no-hit innings, retiring 15 of the 16 batters he faced, as the Dragons defeated the Fort Wayne TinCaps 4-2 on Friday night. The win was the third straight for the Dragons.

Noelvi Marte had two hits, including a home run, while Garrett Wolforth added a two-run double as part of an eight-hit Dragons attack.

The Dragons took the lead on Marte’s solo home run to left field to lead-off the second inning. The homer was Marte’s third since coming over from the Seattle organization in the trade involving Luis Castillo. He hit 15 homers with Everett prior to the trade.

The Dragons extended the lead in the sixth. Mat Nelson started the rally with a hard single to center and went to second on an error. With two outs, Jose Torres blooped a single to center to drive in Nelson and make it 2-0. After a walk to Justice Thompson, Wolforth lined a double to the fence in right field to drive in both Torres and Thompson and make it 4-0.

Rivera, in just his second High-A start, did not allow a base runner until he hit a batter with one out in the fifth inning, and he worked out of trouble in that inning to conclude his outing. Rivera (1-0) did not give up a hit, walk, or run while striking out six to earn the win.

Myles Gayman replaced Rivera to start the sixth inning and worked three scoreless frames, allowing two hits with no walks and four strikeouts.

The Dragons took a lead of 4-0 to the bottom of the ninth and brought in reliever Manuel Cachutt, who was recently activated off the injured list and had not pitched in 21 days. Cachutt surrendered hits to the first two batters he faced as Fort Wayne scored two runs in the inning, but Cachutt closed out the inning and the game without allowing the tying run to come to the plate.