Dragons tales:
a stolen base, his 24th. He has raised his batting average from .218 to .282 over the past 35 games, and his 11-game hitting streak is the longest of the season for the team.
Dragons first baseman Bruce Yari (.277) also had two hits, and John Sansone launched a solo homer in the fourth inning to push Dayton’s lead to 3-1. That homer was Sansone’s eighth overall and fourth in his last 14 games.
Relievers Lucas Benenati, Alfredo Mena and Aaron Fossas (third save) all pitched one inning apiece for Dayton (6-6, 47-35).
Boyles was coming off a shutout in his previous start. Dragons pitching coach Derrin Ebert delivered a message to the team’s would-be football player.
“He doesn’t throw a cutter,” assured Ebert. “The first couple of innings he was like, ‘I don’t know what’s going on. I can’t stop this.’ When I went out there to talk to him I said just use this to your advantage. When you’re in the moment and in the middle of a game, you’ve got to have those quick fixes to get through that inning and outing, then get back to the bullpen and figure it out.”
Dayton’s infield of shortstop Hector Vargas, second baseman Gabriel Ovalle, third baseman Sansone and Yari combined for three double plays. Ovalle, assigned to the Dragons on June 22, fouled off a marathon nine pitches in the fifth inning before striking out.
Taylor Trammell extended his hitting streak to six games, although he was picked off first base after doing so.
Wennington Romero (3-5, 4.15 ERA) gets the start tonight in the first of a three-game series at Bowling Green. ment on the parameters of the job. Gilbert offered Billups between $2-$3 million annually and Billups wanted more, Cleveland.com reported. Former Cavs GM David Griffin was reportedly one of the league’s lowerpaid executives, making less than $2 million. Cleveland. com also reported that Billups never spoke with LeBron James or his agent, Rich Paul.
Billups has been an ESPN analyst since he retired after the 2013-14 season. He has found it a comfortable commute between his home in Denver and network headquarters in Los Angeles. Billups’ daughter will be a high school senior next year, also a factor in the decision.
Windhorst said on a recent podcast that he had a long conversation with Billups about the Cavs job during the Finals as it became more apparent that Gilbert would part ways with Griffin, a split that took place on June 19.
According to Windhorst, Billups did not fear the fact that James can be a free agent after next season. But there were several other reasons Billups may have balked at the job. What he probably feared most was the string of short-lived general managers under Gilbert. In 12 years, four men have held that title and none has received a contract extension.
Billups played in Ice Cube’s BIG3 league Sunday in Charlotte, N.C., where he may have discussed the Cavs’ opening with his peers.
Billups and Gilbert talked June 20 in Detroit and June 21 in Cleveland. The Athletic reported that included a trip to Quicken Loans Arena, where Billups met executives who would serve under him.
According to Windhorst, Gilbert approved Billups’ hiring of an experienced general manager to assist him.
It was not Billups’ first such interview; he recently talked to the Atlanta Hawks about a front office position.
Billups is close friends and shares the same agent with Cavs coach Tyronn Lue. However symbiotic that partnership might seem, becoming the team’s basketball chief could have put a strain on their relationship.
The Cavs seek to retool their roster to defeat the Warriors, who have beaten them in two of the last three NBA Finals. The Cavs won the city’s first championship in 52 years in 2016. Moves like the Clippers’ agreed-upon trade of Chris Paul to the Rockets before Saturday’s start of free agency showed that the league’s playoff teams are ramping up the race for talent in pursuit of the Warriors. Meanwhile, the Cavs were unable to complete any trades on draft night June 22, with one of their targets, the Bulls’ Jimmy Butler, going to the Timberwolves. Since then, the Pacers traded another player who piqued the Cavs’ interest, Paul George, to the Thunder.
After the departure of Griffin and senior vice president Trent Redden, whose contacts were set to expire on June 30, assistant general manager Koby Altman became second in command behind Gilbert. Gilbert could choose to promote Altman like he did with Griffin and his predecessor, Chris Grant.