Dragons doubled-up by Hot Rods

DAYTON, Oh - Matt Rice, Drew Vettleson, and Jeff Malm all hit home runs as the Bowling Green Hot Rods defeated the Dayton Dragons 6-3 on Saturday night at Fifth Third Field.  The Hot Rods have won the first two games of the series to start the second half.

Cincinnati Reds outfielder Drew Stubbs played the first seven innings of the game, going 0 for 4 on a major league injury rehabilitation assignment.  Stubbs is expected to play the entire game for the Dragons on Sunday afternoon.

The Dragons made a last minute starting pitcher change when scheduled starter Daniel Tuttle was scratched due to elbow soreness.  Centerville’s Dan Jensen got the emergency start and pitched credibly.  Jensen tossed the first five innings, allowing five hits and three runs with no walks and five strikeouts.  Jensen suffered the loss to fall to 3-7 on the year.

Bowling Green took a 1-0 lead in the third on Rice’s solo homer, and Vettleson hit a home run in the fourth to make it 2-0.

The Dragons scored in the bottom of the fourth when Ryan Wright doubled to left field, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Kyle Waldrop’s bloop single to left to make it 2-1.

But Bowling Green scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to increase their lead to 4-1, and Malm belted a two-run homer in the top of the eighth to make it 6-1.

The Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the eighth.  Junior Arias lined a single to right and went to third on Juan Perez’s double to right.  One batter later, Wright singled to center to drive in Arias, and Perez scored on Kyle Waldrop’s ground out to make it 6-3.  But the Dragons could seriously threaten to score again as Bowling Green won their second straight game in the series.

The Dragons collected eight hits.  Perez was 2 for 3 with a walk and extended his hitting streak to eight straight games.  Wright was 2 for 3 to give him back-to-back multi-hit games to start the second half.

The Dragons host the Hot Rods on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in the last game of the three-game series.  Radhames Quezada (5-6, 3.89)will start for Dayton against Bowling Green’s Felipe Rivero (6-5, 2.42).  The Dragons open a three-game series at home against the Lake County Captains on Monday at 7:00 p.m.