DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps waited until the last possible moment, but the moment did not disappoint as Brady Allen delivered a go-ahead, two-run, ninth-inning home run to help defeat the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,440 fans Wednesday night at Day Air Ballpark by a score of
DAYTON, OH – The West Michigan Whitecaps waited until the last possible moment, but the moment did not disappoint as Brady Allen delivered a go-ahead, two-run, ninth-inning home run to help defeat the Dayton Dragons in front of 7,440 fans Wednesday night at Day Air Ballpark by a score of 6-3.
HIGHLIGHTS: WHITECAPS STUN DRAGONS IN DAYTON
The Whitecaps offense came to life in the biggest of ways – a six-run ninth inning – to help win for the fifth time in their last six games. The victory also becomes the first time the Whitecaps have won a ballgame in which they trailed headed into the ninth inning.
The ballgame began with a pitchers duel, as Dayton’s Chase Petty tallied eight strikeouts in four scoreless innings. Meanwhile, Garrett Burhenn pitched a Whitecaps season-best six innings of one-run baseball and striking out eight. Burhenn’s lone blemish was a pair of softly-hit singles from Austin Callahan and Austin Hendrick who combined to score Dayton’s first run in the fourth. The score remained the same until the ninth, as Dayton stranded multiple scoring opportunities in the later frames. In the ninth, Allen blasted his third homer as a Whitecaps and sixth of the 2023 season to give the ‘Caps their first lead of the night at 2-1. Later in the inning, Roberto Campos delivered some insurance with a two-run single and Jace Jung blasted a two-run homer to conclude the six-run ninth. Justice Thompson collected a run-scoring triple and scored on a throwing error before reliever Erick Pinales finished the ninth and gave the Whitecaps a Wednesday win.
The Whitecaps improve to to 27-20 and remain five games behind the Great Lakes Loons for first place in the Midwest League East division, due to the Loons winning their seventh consecutive game with a 4-3 win at Beloit. The Dragons fall to 23-24. ‘Caps reliever Blake Holub (5-0) tossed a scoreless 1.1 frames to take his team-best fifth win, while Dayton closer Vin Timpanelle (0-3) talk his third loss after giving up all six ‘Caps runs. Campos finished 3-for-4 to end the contest.
UP NEXT
This six-game series between the Whitecaps and Dayton Dragons continues Thursday from Day Air Ballpark at 7:05 pm. Troy Melton makes his second career start for West Michigan against Dayton’s Javi Rivera. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network at 6:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2023 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.