Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Y! MyWebDAYTON 4, GREAT LAKES 3
Birthday cake, win taste good to Dragons manager Scott
Sunday, August 17, 2008
DAYTON — Dragons manager Donnie Scott shared his birthday cake with Great Lakes manager Juan Bustabad because both were born Aug. 16, 1961.
Only Scott received any gifts in the ensuing baseball game Saturday night, Aug. 16, at Fifth Third Field.
First baseman Michael McKennon led the 4-3 Dragons victory over the Loons with a homer, double and two RBIs, while Great Lakes ran into some strong defense by the Dragons that wiped out five runners and deprived a sixth from even reaching base.
It all put the Dragons four games ahead of Fort Wayne in the race for the final playoff spot with 15 games to play.
"How about that defense?" said Scott, lauding a whirlwind of thrown-out base runners by right fielder Denis Phipps (two), left fielder Brandon Menchaca, shortstop Zack Cozart and third baseman Neftali Soto.
Then there was second baseman Jake Kahaulelio diving to snare a line drive in the eighth.
All that and McKennon, who barely hit .200 the first half of the season. Now he's hitting .241 and a whopping .405 with four homers in his last 10 games.
"It feels good," said McKennon, whose homer in the second gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead while his double in the sixth completed Dayton's scoring. "I was capable of doing well. I kept trying to make adjustment after adjustment to see what would work. Now, I don't even stride (when he swings)."
It must be working. Great Lakes was economical in allowing hits and runners, so McKennon batted only three times. In between his homer and double, he walked.
"He's playing every day," said Cozart, in the next locker. "It's hard to play when you don't get to play for 3-4 days."
Today's game
Who: Great Lakes Loons at Dragons
When: 7 p.m.
Radio: WING-AM (1410)
TV: Time Warner Cable, digital channel 99
