Dragons begin second half with loss

Dayton, Ohio (WDTN) - Bowling Green’s Tyler Goeddel went 4 for 4 and the Hot Rods turned away a late-inning Dayton comeback bid to edge the Dragons 9-8 on Saturday night in the second half opener.  A crowd of 8,997, the third largest of the season, saw the game at Fifth Third Field.  

Bowling Green overcame a 4-3 deficit with two runs in the sixth inning, then added four more in the top of the eighth to take a 9-4 lead.  The Dragons responded with four runs in the bottom of the eighth and had the tying run on base with no one out in both the eighth and ninth innings but could not cross the final hurdle in their comeback bid.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs played the first four innings of the game, going 0 for 2 with a pair of fly outs in the first game of his scheduled three-day injury rehabilitation assignment with the Dragons.  Stubbs is expected to play seven innings on Saturday night and nine innings on Sunday afternoon.

The Dragons took a 3-1 lead in the first inning, getting a two-run home run by Yorman Rodriguez in his first game of the season with the club.  After Bowling Green tied the game in the second, Dayton’s Ryan Wright drove in a run in the third with a two-out RBI infield single to give the Dragons a 4-3 lead.

Down 9-4 entering the bottom of the eighth, the first five Dragons batters reached safely.  Rodriguez delivered a two-run double and Wright added an RBI single.  Kyle Waldrop’s singled to get the tying run on base with no one out, but Jefry Sierra grounded into a double play as Wright scored to make it 9-8.  Sean Buckley struck out to end the inning. 

In the ninth, Dayton’s Juan Silva walked to start the inning, again representing the tying run.  Yovan Gonzalez’s sacrifice bunt advanced Silva to second, but Silva took a wide turn on the play, seeing third base briefly uncovered.  Bowling Green first baseman Jeff Malm threw quickly behind Silva at second, and he was tagged out for the second out of the inning.  Junior Arias flied out to right field to end the game.

Dragons starting pitcher Jacob Johnson tossed the first four innings, allowing six hits and three runs (two earned) with no walks and four strikeouts, but was not involved in the decision.  Erik Miller (0-1) replaced Johnson and allowed two runs in one and two-thirds innings, giving up three hits and three walks to suffer the loss.  El’Hajj Muhammad worked effectively for one and one-third innings, allowing no runs on one hit with two walks and one strikeout.  Ryan Kemp had a rough eighth inning, allowing four runs on four hits and a walk.  Cole Green pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up one hit.  Dragons relievers combined to allow six runs in five innings, walking six and allowing nine hits.   

The Dragons finished the game with 10 hits. Rodriguez led the way, going 2 for 4 with a homer, double, and four runs batted in.  Wright, Arias, and Juan Perez each had two hits.