Dragons tales:

West Michigan DAYTON — may have the Midwest League’s best record, but you couldn’t blame the Whitecaps if a little doubt started to set in.

Dayton pitchers Scott Moss and Tony Santillan would be the reason, because it’s likely they’ll face the Whitecaps in the first two games of the MWL playoffs, which begin at Fifth Third Field on Sept. 6.

Santillan (7-7, 3.56 ERA) worked five innings, allowed one run on four hits, struck out nine and walked three in the Dragons’ 3-1 home win Thursday.

Santillan and Moss combined to allow one run while striking out 14 in 10 innings during the final two games of the series. The Whitecaps lost back-to-back to the same opponent for the first time since mid-April.

Santillan’s biggest test came in the fifth, when he allowed consecutive singles to start the inning. With runners on first and second, and no outs, Santillan rebounded by striking out the side.

“That’s huge for him to come out of a tough situation and he can keep his composure out there and his emotions under control,” manager Luis Bolivar said. “He did it great, he came out of that inning and it was huge.”

Lady Luck helped Dayton in the second when DH John Sansone hit a one-out grounder up the

Game changer:

middle that pitcher Anthony Castro got a glove on. The change in trajectory forced second baseman Chad Sedio to hurry his throw to Danny Pinero, who couldn’t pick the ball out of the dirt.

Hector Vargas doubled into the right-field corner to bring Sansone around. Carlos Rivero then singled, moving Vargas to third. Next, Randy Ventura’s high chopper to third lingered in the air so long, the third baseman was left with no time to make a play, scoring Vargas and giving the Dragons a 2-0 lead.

It’s been a historic season for the Dragons with the club earning its first postseason berth since 2011 and Jose Siri breaking the MWL record for consecutive games with a hit.

Left fielder Taylor Trammell recently joined the fun when he became the sixth player in Dragons history to hit 10 homers and steal 20 bases in a season. Siri accomplished the feat earlier this season, and Bolivar achieved the milestone as a player in 2004.

Trammell entered Thursday tied for second in the MWL in RBIs (66) and stolen bases (33), third in hits (124), fifth in total bases (196), and eighth is batting average (.285).

The first-round competitive balance pick of the Reds in 2016 is living up to his draft status.