Dragons Comeback among Biggest in Team History

Dayton, Ohio Sammy Diaz scored the tie-breaking run on a wild pitch as the Dayton Dragons battled back from an 8-1 deficit to defeat the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers 10-9 on Monday night at Fifth Third Field. The win, one of the biggest comebacks in team history, gave the Dragons their fifth straight series victory as they took two-out-of-three from the Timber Rattlers and improved their second half record to 17-14. Wisconsin fell to 12-18. Dayton left fielder Jesse Winker made a game-saving and game-ending diving catch in the top of the ninth inning with the tying run at third base to preserve the win after the Dragons had scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to take the lead. Victor Roache hit a three-run home run in the first inning and then added a grand slam in the second as Wisconsin built an 8-1 lead over their first two frames. Roache drove in seven runs over the first two innings of the game. The Dragons started back with one run in the bottom of the second on Joe Hudson s RBI double, and they added three more in the fourth, keyed by a two-run double by Beau Amaral, to make it 8-5. Seth Mejias-Brean hit a long solo home run to center field in the seventh to pull the Dragons to within two at 8-6. It was the sixth homer of the year for Mejias-Brean and his third of the home stand. Wisconsin scored one run in the top of the eighth to lead 9-6 before the Dragons offense got rolling in the bottom of the inning. Hudson walked to start the rally and Adam Matthews singled to center. Amaral bunted his way aboard to load the bases with no one out, and Diaz was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make it 9-7. Winker followed with a slow roller in front of the mound for an infield single as Matthews scored to make it 9-8. With one out, Jeff Gelalich s sacrifice fly to right field tied the game as Amaral scored and Diaz went to third. Wisconsin s Jono Armold then uncorked a wild pitch to bring in Diaz and give the Dragons a 10-9 lead. In the Wisconsin ninth with one out, Roache ran the count to 3-0 and was given an intentional walk with the bases empty. Mike Garza lined a hit to right that moved Roache to third, but Adam Matthews throw to second nailed Garza for the second out as he tried to stretch the single into a double. Parker Berberet then ripped a sinking liner toward left field. Winker charged, left his feet, and made the catch just before the ball hit the ground to end the game. The Dragons bullpen combined to throw seven and one-third innings, allowing just one run on three hits, to allow the offense to come back. Joel Bender (4-2) was credited with the win. The Dragons finished with 13 hits. Five players had two hits including Amaral, Winker, Mejias-Brean, Matthews, and Daniel Pigott. Mejias-Brean had a triple and a home run to continue his sizzling streak. Over his last 12 games, he is 25 for 47, a .532 average. The Dragons went 4-2 on the home stand. In all four of their wins, they battled back from a deficit of at least three runs. Two of the wins featured walk-off home runs and the final win, a victory after trailing by seven runs, was their largest comeback since at least 2005. The Dragons had not overcome a deficit of more than six runs to win a game since record-keeping on this statistic began in 2006. The Dragons do not play on Tuesday before opening a three-game series in Lansing, Michigan against the Lansing Lugnuts on Wednesday at 7:05 pm. Reds outfielder Ryan Ludwick is scheduled to play for the Dragons on an injury rehabilitation assignment. Ismael Guillon (4-6, 5.91) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Dayton. Lansing will go with Ben White (5-6, 3.74). All Dragons games can be heard on WONE Radio (980 AM) and via the internet at daytondragons.com and wone.com.