Dragons win; magic number is 1

Dayton, OH - Dayton starting pitcher Daniel Corcino and three relievers combined on an eight-hit shutout as the Dragons defeated the West Michigan Whitecaps 2-0 on Saturday night before a crowd of 8,858 at Fifth Third Field. With the win, the Dragons cut their “magic number” to clinch a playoff berth to one. A Dayton win on Sunday afternoon will guarantee the Dragons their first playoff appearance since 2008.

The Dragons improved their record to 42-19 with the win, leaving them two short of the franchise record for most wins in a half with nine games to play. Dayton has a seven game lead on second place Fort Wayne and a nine game lead on third place West Michigan. The top two teams advance to the playoffs.

Corcino (11-6) worked the first five innings, allowing four hits with one walk and six strikeouts to earn the win. Chad Rogers tossed two innings in relief of Corcino. Blaine Howell struck out the side in order in the eighth inning, and Drew Hayes pitched a scoreless ninth, giving up two hits and striking out three, to record his league-leading 22nd save.

The Dragons scored the game’s first run in the fourth inning. Kurtis Muller walked, went to third on Donald Lutz’s single to right, and scored on Tucker Barnhart’s sacrifice fly to center to make it 1-0.

In the eighth, Billy Hamilton walked with one out, stole second, stole third, and scored on Ronald Torreyes’ ground out to second to close out the scoring. Hamilton’s two stolen bases gave him 94 for the year, the most in the minor leagues since 2001 and just four short of the Reds’ all-time organizational record.

The Dragons finished with just five hits by five different players. Frank Pfister’s double was the only extra base hit.

The Dragons host West Michigan at Fifth Third Field on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. (WONE 980 AM). Josh Smith (12-7, 3.02) will start for Dayton against West Michigan’s Brian Stroud (0-1, 4.09). The series continues Monday and Tuesday with both games at 7:00 p.m.

Notes: The Dragons would clinch not only a playoff berth, but the Eastern Division second half title as well with a win on Sunday coupled with a Fort Wayne loss to Lansing…The Dragons are 17-4 over their last 21 games…The Dragons lowered their team earned run average to 3.40 in the game. The club record is 3.41…Dragons pitchers struck out 13 and walked only one on Saturday.