Siani’s grand slam powers Dragons to third straight win over Lugnuts

Dayton's Mike Siani is tagged out by West Michigan's Cooper Johnson in the first inning of Tuesday night's game at Day Air Ballpark. Siani tried to score from second base on a single by Quin Cotton. Jeff Gilbert/CONTRIBUTED

Dayton's Mike Siani is tagged out by West Michigan's Cooper Johnson in the first inning of Tuesday night's game at Day Air Ballpark. Siani tried to score from second base on a single by Quin Cotton. Jeff Gilbert/CONTRIBUTED

Michael Siani lined a grand slam home run in a six-run second inning as the Dayton Dragons defeated the Lansing Lugnuts 7-2 on Thursday night. The Dragons have won the first three games of the six-game set in Lansing by a combined score of 29-7. Dayton has won four straight games overall and held onto first place in the High-A Central League’s East Division.

The six-run inning, matching the Dragons largest single frame of the year, started with a solo home run by Juan Martinez, his fifth. With one out, Quin Cotton homered to right, his team-leading eighth. Three batters later, Siani came to the plate with the bases loaded and ripped a liner that registered 103 mph off the bat over the right-field fence for the Dragons’ third grand slam of the year. It was Siani’s second home run in the last two games and it gave the Dragons a 6-0 lead.

Dragons starter Carson Spiers (4-2) worked the first five innings to earn the win. He allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Evan Kravetz followed Spiers with three scoreless innings, and John Ghyzel pitched a scoreless ninth inning. Dragons pitchers have combined to allow just six earned runs in the three games of the series, an ERA of 2.00.

The Dragons scored their final run in the sixth when McGarry walked, went to third on a double by Cotton, and scored on Eric Yang’s sacrifice fly. Siani was 3 for 5 with a home run and four runs batted in. Cotton was 3 for 4 with a homer and double.

The Dragons are 6-4 on their 13-game road trip with games through Sunday. They have won six of eight after losing the first two contests on the trip.