COMSTOCK PARK, MI – The West Michigan Whitecaps lost a seesaw battle to the Dayton Dragons as a pair of three-run home runs resulted in an 8-5 defeat in front of a season-high 7,890 fans Thursday at LMCU Ballpark.
Despite Whitecaps pitchers holding Dayton to just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position, it was two swings that made the difference, as Dragons hitters Ariel Almonte and Kien Vu both added three-run blasts in the loss.
West Michigan took the lead in the first inning on a solo homer from Garrett Pennington that cleared the batter’s eye in center field before Dragons third baseman Alfredo Alcantara tied the game at one with a solo home run in the second. The Dragons continued the power display in the fourth inning as Almonte launched his three-run shot, but the ‘Caps responded with three runs in the bottom half, highlighted by RBI singles from outfielders Andrew Sojka and Caleb Shpur to jump in front 5-4. The lead was short-lived, as Yerlin Confidan plated Vu on a bloop single before Vu followed with his three-run blast in the sixth inning to give Dayton the 8-5 edge they never relinquished. West Michigan’s offense went cold after the fourth inning, as Dayton reliever Beau Blanchard tossed five scoreless frames with four strikeouts before closer Dylan Simmons slammed the door with a strikeout, sealing the 8-5 victory.
The Whitecaps fall to 12-18 while the Dragons improve to 16-14. Whitecaps reliever Zack Lee (0-2) suffered his second loss after allowing three runs through two innings with a pair of strikeouts. Meanwhile, Blanchard (3-2) earned the win, and Simmons picked up his first save of the season. The Whitecaps have now lost 11 consecutive games, one shy of the franchise record of 12 straight losses set in May 2011.
UP NEXT
The ‘Caps and Dragons play a Friday night contest and the fourth of this six-game series at 6:35pm. Rayner Castillo gets the start for West Michigan against the Dragons Nestor Lorant. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:20pm on 106.1 FM ‘The Ticket’, and 1340 WJRW-AM in Grand Rapids, or listen to all the action on whitecapsbaseball.com.