Lugnuts fend off Dragons, 8-7

LANSING, Mich. - Mitch Nay bashed a crucial solo home run and the Lansing Lugnuts (13-20, 50-49) topped the Dayton Dragons (12-21, 53-50), 8-7, on Thursday night at Cooley Law School Stadium.

All nine members of the Lugnuts' starting lineup hit safely, helping the Nuts reach 14 hits for the second straight game - and a second straight win over Dayton in the three-game series.
 

Trailing 3-1 entering the second inning, the Lugnuts tied the score against Dayton starter Alex Webb(Loss, 0-2) on a Joshua Palacios RBI triple and a Nash Knight RBI single.

A four-run rally in the third put the Nuts on top for good. J.B. Woodman , returning from the DL in his first game since July 1, led off with a single. Ridge Smith doubled him in for a 4-3 lead. One out later, Luis Silva singled Smith to third base and Nick Sinay plated him with an RBI double to left field. That brought up Palacios with the infield in, and the center fielder came through with a two-run single.

Dayton did not go away quietly. Two runs in the fourth off starter Osman Gutierrez carved the lead to 7-5, and a bases-loaded walk from reliever Nick Hartman in the sixth made it a one-run game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Nay hooked his sixth home run of the season to left field off reliever Jesse Stallings, pushing the Lugnuts' lead back to 8-6.

The Dragons threatened again in the seventh, putting runners at the corners against Hartman before Cassidy Brown greeted new reliever Jared Carkuff with an RBI bloop single to left.

Carkuff (Save, 2) made sure that the Dragons came no closer, pitching the final 2 1/3 innings and allowing only one further base hit.

Gutierrez (Win, 3-8) pitched five innings for the Lugnuts in the winning cause, allowing six hits and five runs (two earned), walking two and striking out four.

The offensive effort was led by catcher Smith, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles, run scored and an RBI; Palacios, who was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch, run scored and three RBIs; and Sinay, who finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

In the loss, Dayton center fielder Jose Siri extended his league-leading hitting streak to 32 games with a fourth-inning single, putting him three games away from tying the Midwest League record.

The Lugnuts go for the three-game sweep of the Dragons on Social Media Night featuring postgame LAFCU Fireworks on Friday at 7:05 p.m.! Nuts right-hander Andy Ravel (7.54) starts against Dayton left-hander Scott Moss (3.58). Tickets may be purchased at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com.
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