Dragons tales:

The West Michigan DAYTON — Whitecaps (36-15, 81-37) are enjoying one of the best seasons of any pro baseball team in 2017, and they’ll be waiting for the Dragons in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs in September.

After clinching a wild card berth in the first half, the Dragons have stumbled through the second half (1636, 57-65) with the league’s worst record.

But if manager Luis Bolivar can get the five shutout innings starter Scott Moss delivered during a 7-0 win Wednesday at Fifth Third Field, Dayton may be tough to eliminate.

Moss struck out five, gave up three hits and allowed two walks while improving to 12-6 and lowering his ERA to 3.48.

“He can mix his pitches well. He has a good fastball. He can locate it on both sides of the plate and (has) a nice curveball, and he’s used change-ups more lately, so he can keep all batters off balance,” Bolivar said.

Moss spent time on the DL in July for rest purposes, but the 6-foot-6 left-hander doesn’t know how the time off will affect his future, because this is his first full season of pro ball. He was drafted in 2016 and spent the rest of the season playing rookie ball.

“(The time off ) was a big help to me,” he said, adding that his time on the DL really may help in his next four to five starts.

While the second half has trended in the wrong direction, Dayton has proved it can hang with the Whitecaps. The Dragons have won two of the last three against the Detroit Tigers affiliate, taking the season series 10-8.

“Since the beginning of the season, we’ve been playing good against them and it’s carried over to the whole season,” Bolivar said.

Moss got all the support he’d need in the first inning thanks to Taylor Trammell’s two-run homer.

It was Trammell’s 11th

Game-changer:

and was set up by smallball aggressiveness at the top of the order. Jose Siri led off with a bunt, easily beating the throw from pitcher Tom de Blok. Carlos Rivero moved Siri to second with a sacrifice.

But after striking out Tyler Sparks, it looked like de Blok might escape the inning, until Trammell drove his first-pitch offering. That homer was the first of three for the Dragons.

Siri rewrote some of the Midwest League history book with his record 39-game hitting streak. Now he may be looking to add his own chapter. If Siri can hit one more homer and steal three more bases, he’ll be the first Midwest League player since 1982 to hit 20 homers with 40 steals.

On deck:

Tony Santillan (6-7, 3.64 ERA) will start for the Dragons, while Anthony Castro (9-4, 2.70 ERA) starts for the Whitecaps in tonight’s series finale at 7:05.