Dragons lose game; set K record

Dayton, OH - Michael Crouse hit a home run and scored two runs to lead the Lansing Lugnuts to a 5-4 victory over the Dayton Dragons on a day when Dragons pitchers broke the all-time Midwest League record for most strikeouts.

Dragons pitchers combined to notch 11 strikeouts in the game as they broke the league record set in 1998 by the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. Midwest League records go back to 1947.

Lansing took an early 3-0 lead against Dragons starting pitcher Kyle Lotzkar. Michael Crouse led off the game with a home run to left field, his 14th of the year. With one out, Marcus Knecht delivered a two-run double down the left field line to make it 3-0. In the fourth, Lansing’s Jack Murphy drilled a solo home run to right field to give Lansing a 4-0 lead.

The Dragons started back in the fifth, scoring an unearned run, and then David Vidal drilled a two-run home run in the sixth to make it 4-3. But Lansing answered with one run in the seventh to build a 5-3 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dayton’s Brennan May belted a solo home run to make it 5-4, but Jefry Sierra grounded out to second to end the game.

Lotzkar (3-2) worked five innings, allowing three hits and four earned runs with four walks and seven strikeouts to suffer the loss.

The Dragons finished with 10 hits. Donald Lutz was 3 for 4 with a run scored to raise his batting average to .301 on the season heading into the final game. Vidal and Tucker Barnhart each had two hits.

Vidal’s home run was his 20th of the year as he matched Lutz for the team lead. The last Dragons player to hit 20 home runs prior to this season was Brandon Waring, who hit 20 in 2008.

The Dragons host the Lugnuts in the last game of the regular season on Monday at 2:00 p.m. (WONE 980 AM). Tanner Robles (6-9, 5.73) will start for Dayton. The Dragons open the playoffs on Wednesday, September 7 against Lansing in Dayton.