DAYTON, Ohio – The Fort Wayne TinCaps dropped their eighth-straight game Thursday night, as Dayton Dragons (Reds affiliate) outfielder Kien Vu stole home to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth inning, 5-4.
The Dragons (34-26) added a pair of home runs on Thursday and now have hit nine in the first three games of the series. Yerlin Confidan roped his fourth home run of the season, 428 feet and out of Day Air Ballpark, to begin the scoring in the second inning.
Kien Vu, following his team-leading sixth triple of the season in the first inning, dropped his second home run in as many games over the left field wall in the third. The two-run home run gave Dayton a 3-1 lead.
TinCaps (24-36) right fielder Kavares Tears (No. 26 Padres prospect) collected his seventh multi-hit game of the season. Tears narrowly missed a home run in the third, hitting a double a foot below the top of the center field wall. He later scored on an RBI groundout by Kasen Wells. Wells ended the night 2-for-3, adding a pair of singles including an RBI single in the seventh. He currently has a team-leading five-game hitting streak.
Tears came up again with two on and two out in the eighth inning and roped an RBI single to right field to tie the game at four.
Fort Wayne avoided a jam with a pair on and two outs in each of the seventh and eighth. In the ninth, two walks and a hit by pitch loaded the bases before a strikeout set up Peyton Stovall. Against left-handed pitcher C.J. Widger, Vu dashed for the plate before a 2-2 pitch to win it for Dayton.
Fort Wayne has lost each of its last eight games, the sixth time in the TinCaps era (2009-present) that Fort Wayne has lost eight in a row or more. Fort Wayne has only lost nine or more in a row four times in franchise history, one of which came last season, with six losses coming to the Dayton Dragons.
Next Game: Thursday, June 12 @ Dayton (7:05 p.m.)
- TinCaps Probable Starter: RHP Abraham Parra
- Dragons Probable Starter: RHP Ovis Portes
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