West Michigan WhiteCaps at Dayton Dragons
April 9th, 2004
| West Michigan |
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5 |
2 |
| Dayton |
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E-Sabino, Kirkland, Olmstead, LOB WM-4, DAY-7, 2B-Fry, 3B-Himes, HR-Burgos (Hawk), SB-Blue
WP-Tata 2, Shafer, HBP-Hunt (Shafer), SO-Blue, Rodland, Giarratano 2, Hunt 2, Sabino 2, McKinney 3, Burgos, Kirkland 2, Trezza, Dickerson 2, Votto 2, Smith 2, Himes 2, Hernandez 2, Perez, BB-Blue, Dickerson, Bolivar, Smith
T-2:39, A-7,886
HP-Tyler Funneman, BS-Scott Jarrad
Dayton Daily News
Marc Katz
Efficient pitching led to a tiddy game for three Class A Midwest League Dayton Dragons pitchers Friday night.
It also led to the team's first victory, a 4-3 decision over the West Michigan WhiteCaps in front of 7,886 a Fifth Third Field.
The WhiteCaps, farm hands of the Tigers, struck out 15 times, giving them 29 for two games even though the Dragons, on orders from the parent Reds, are pitching to "contact" and not trying to strike out every batter.
"Just getting ahead, getting the first pitch over, makes a difference," said Brock Till, the second Dragons pitcher on the mound. "When you get the first pitch over, they're (the batters) not as aggressive. And hitters tend to swing at more bad pitches when you're ahead. The (strike) zone widens."
Till had no hard evidence of that, just a hard fastball, slider and splitter as he went 4.1 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out seven and walking none.
He actually entered the game an out ahead of schedule as starter Derek Hawk allowed a two run homer to Rich Burgos following a two out error in the fourth. Since Hawk was only three pitches away from the mandated 75 pitch limit, Till was ushered into the game for the last out of the inning.
Under orderd from above, the Dragons are using a four day eight man "starting" rotation with the second starter in each game expected to begin an inning.
In Thursday's opener, the Dragons eventually had to use five pitchers, emptying the bullpen of all three designated relievers without getting to closer David Shafer. In all the Dragons used 211 pitches in an 11-3 loss.
That pitch count came way down as Hawk, who allowed only one earned run, threw 72 pitches and should have made it through the fourth. Till threw 55 pitches and Shafer closed the ninth with three strikeouts after hitting the leadoff batter, Kelly Hunt on the helmet to start the inning. He threw only 16 pitches.
"It was an outstanding effort by all three pitchers," Dragons manager Alonzo Powell said. "Hawk set the tone early, and I can't say enough about Till."
Dragon's hitters helped the cause with two runs in the second following a lead off Ben Himes triple and two runs in the fourth following a Ryan Fry lead off double.
Till, who pitched four seasons at Bradley University, was taken in the 17th round of last summer's free agent draft and posted a 1-1 record with a 2.48 ERA at Billings, Montana. He also walked 21 and struck out 23 in 29 innings.
"Toward the end of the year, my walk to strikeout ratio was better," Till said. "In the second half, I was more consistant throwing strikes."
That consistancey, at least through one game, has carried over to another season.
Dragons tales
The Dragons have struck out 25 times in two games, but Powell said, "the hitters are still getting used to playing under the light, I'm sure they'll (the strikeouts) come down." In spring training, all games are played during the day... tonight's designated "starters" for the Dragons are Josh Thigpen adn Luis Noriega.