Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Furl
Google
Reddit
Stumbleupon
Y! MyWebDragons lead in wildcard race cut by loss
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Grand Rapids, Mich. — Justin Henry lined a base hit to the gap in left-center field to drive in the winning run from third base with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as the West Michigan Whitecaps defeated the Dayton Dragons, 6-5, on Thursday night. The Dragons loss coupled with a win by the Fort Wayne Wizards cut the Dragons lead to three games in the wildcard race with 11 games to play.
With the game tied 5-5, West Michigan's Angel Flores led off the bottom of the ninth with a double off the glove of Dragons third baseman Neftali Soto. Pinch runner Cory Middleton replaced Flores and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Joe Tucker. Henry then lined a hit to left center against Dragons reliever Ruben Medina (1-1) that brought in Middleton to end the game.
The Dragons twice battled back from two-run deficits to tie the game or take the lead. Zack Cozart enjoyed a big night for Dayton, going 4 for 4 with two runs batted in. Jake Kahaulelio added three hits.
West Michigan took the lead in the first inning on a solo home run by Chris Carlson and tacked on another run in the third on back-to-back doubles by Joe Tucker and Justin Henry.
The Dragons pulled back to within one run in the fourth with an unearned run. Devin Mesoraco reached on a two-base throwing error by third baseman Ronnie Bourquin and scored on a two-out single by Kahaulelio to make it 2-1.
In the fifth, the Dragons took the lead. Cozart's run-scoring double tied the game and Denis Phipps added a two-out single to bring in Cozart to make it 3-2.
West Michigan evened the score in the fifth on a home run by Chris White and then took the lead with two runs in the seventh at 5-3.
The Dragons battled back to tie the game in the eighth on an RBI triple by Keltavious Jones and Cozart's run-scoring single to make it 5-5, setting up Henry's heroics in the bottom of the ninth.
The Dragons and the Whitecaps meet again at Fifth Third Ballpark in Grand Rapids on Friday night at 7 p.m. Jeremy Horst (6-2, 2.58) will start for the Dragons.
