Division-leading Dragons shade Lugnuts, 5-4

LANSING, Mich. – In front of a Grand Slam School Day crowd of 7,353, the Eastern Division-leading Dayton Dragons (20-7) staved off the Lansing Lugnuts (11-17), 5-4, in a Tuesday matinee at Jackson® Field™.

Jose Torres opened up the game with a home run and Alex McGarry followed three batters later with a two-run homer, helping the Dragons lead from start to finish.

It was a Mat Nelson roundtripper leading off the eighth that arguably provided Dayton’s most important run, increasing the visitor’s lead to 5-3.

In the bottom of the eighth, catcher Jared McDonald drove an opposite-field solo home run off Jake Gozzo to bring the Nuts within one run. Patrick McColl followed with a walk, one of nine drawn by the Lugnuts in the game, and Brayan Buelvas singled to move the tying run into scoring position and put the potential go-ahead run aboard. Dayton turned to Donovan Benoit, who struck out Drew Swift and coaxed an inning-ending fielder’s choice from Euribiel Ángeles.

An inning later, Benoit walked Brett Harris to again put the tying run on base, but struck out Marty Bechina and induced a fielder’s choice from Lawrence Butler to end the game.

The Lugnuts went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, stranding 11.

Dayton starter Joe Boyle set the tone for both base runners and Lansing’s frustrations in clutch moments, walking six batters while striking out seven in 4 2/3 hitless innings. When Boyle left in the fifth with two on and two out due to pitch count, Evan Kravetz walked Tyler Soderstrom to load the bases. Brett Harris followed with an RBI single to right, the Lugnuts’ first hit and the first run charged in 2022 to Boyle in 21 2/3 innings. Ángeles also attempted to score on the play, but was thrown out by right fielder Allan Cerda, a play that took on increasing importance as the game went on.

In the loss, the Lugnuts’ McDonald went 2-for-4 with a home run, an RBI double, a diving tag at the plate of Nick Quintana in the seventh and a caught-stealing of Justice Thompson in the eighth.

Lansing starter Joey Estes tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walk with four strikeouts. Diego Granado followed with 1 1/3, allowing one unearned run, Kumar Nambiar gave up one run (Nelson’s home run) in two innings, and Edward Baram tossed a perfect frame.

The second game of the six-game series, as well as the eighth game of the Nuts’ 12-game homestand, coincides with a Dog Days of Summer with dogs welcome at the park. Gates open at 6 p.m. Wednesday for a 7:05 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit lansinglugnuts.com or call (517) 485-4500.

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