Estes finishes with a gem, but Dragons edge Lugs
LANSING, Mich. – 20-year-old Joey Estes finished the season with his third consecutive quality start, but Austin Hendrick’s RBI double in the eighth inning lifted the Dayton Dragons (27-33, 66-60) to a 3-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts (28-35, 53-76) in front of a crowd of 6,985 on Thursday night
LANSING, Mich. – 20-year-old Joey Estes finished the season with his third consecutive quality start, but Austin Hendrick’s RBI double in the eighth inning lifted the Dayton Dragons (27-33, 66-60) to a 3-1 win over the Lansing Lugnuts (28-35, 53-76) in front of a crowd of 6,985 on Thursday night at Jackson® Field™.
The youngest pitcher on the Lugnuts roster all season, Estes ensured that his team-leading 20th start of the year lived up to his performances of the prior two weeks, six shutout innings at Wisconsin on August 25 and six innings of two-run ball at South Bend on September 1.
The right-hander struck out five Dragons while allowing only three hits, one walk and one run – a Tyler Callihan solo home run – in six innings, notching his third straight quality start and his fourth quality start overall.
.@JoeyEstes21's final three starts for the @LansingLugnuts:
— Jesse Goldberg-Strassler (@jgoldstrass) September 9, 2022
- Aug. 25 at Wisconsin: 6 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K
- Sept. 1 at South Bend: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K
- Tonight vs. Dayton: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K
In total: 18 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 15 K
Joey's five K's tonight ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/wCMYT7AyeJ
But with the game tied at 1-1, Michael Trautwein led off the eighth inning with a single off reliever Brock Whittlesey. Two batters later, Hendrick sent a line drive into the right-center gap, scoring Trautwein for a 2-1 Dayton lead.
The Dragons added insurance an inning later on a Trautwein sacrifice fly off TJ Czyz, closing out the scoring.The Lugnuts’ only run came via a pair of two-out errors in the second inning, the first a two-base throwing error by third baseman Steven Leyton to put Sahid Valenzuela aboard, the second a throwing error by shortstop Jose Torres on an Euribiel Ángeles infield single that brought home for Valenzuela.
But the Nuts’ offense was stymied otherwise, with six hits scattered in six different innings by starter Julian Aguiar and relievers Braxton Roxby, Jake Gozzo and Vin Timpanelli.
Third baseman Joshwan Wright typified the offensive frustrations, reaching base on a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch but was twice caught stealing second base.
Shortstop Ángeles finished 2-for-3 with a walk, giving him a team-leading 99 base hits.
Friday, the fourth game of the season-ending six-game series, is the final LAFCU Frontline Friday and LAFCU Fireworks night of the season. Lugnuts right-hander *Kyle Virbitsky *(3.74 ERA) opposes former Michigan State Spartans right-hander Sam Benschoter (2.57) in the starting matchup, with gates opening at 6 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. start. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
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Joshwan Wright typified the offensive frustrations, reaching base on a single, a walk and a hit-by-pitch but was twice caught stealing second base.
Shortstop Ángeles finished 2-for-3 with a walk, giving him a team-leading 99 base hits.
Friday, the fourth game of the season-ending six-game series, is the final LAFCU Frontline Friday and LAFCU Fireworks night of the season. Lugnuts right-hander *Kyle Virbitsky *(3.74 ERA) opposes former Michigan State Spartans right-hander Sam Benschoter (2.57) in the starting matchup, with gates opening at 6 p.m. for the 7:05 p.m. start. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.
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