‘Positive’ outlook aids Bautista
Wendolyn Bautista has been on a meandering minorleague path. He pitched at high Class A Daytona each of the past two seasons. He even made three starts at Triple-A Louisville last year. This year he’s 25 and pitching for low A Dayton. He’s started 11 games and made 23 relief appearances.
“He probably feels like he could be at higher levels, but he’s got to do his job here too,” Dragons manager Luis Bolivar said.
Bautista has pitched well lately, allowing only three hits and no runs in his past three outings. “I feel better now than before because I’m positive,” he said.
On Saturday against Lansing — one of the top teams all summer in the Midwest League — Bolivar gave Bautista the ball in what has become known as a high-leverage situation. Typically, John Ghyzel is on the mound in the ninth inning with the bases loaded, one
MONDAY’S GAME
Lansing at Dayton, 7 p.m., 980 out and the Dragons holding a one-run lead. This time it was Bautista’s turn.
“This team has fastball hitters and Bautista has a pretty good slider,” Bolivar said.
Bautista started leadoff hitter Reggie Pruitt with a fastball. Then he threw consecutive sliders for a strikeout. The next batter, Samad Taylor, saw two fastballs and popped the second one up to center field to end the game for Bautista’s second save. Bautista said he figured Taylor was looking for the slider after seeing Pruitt strike out.
“He’s a guy with more experience and was very effective at keeping his composure and making good pitches,” Bolivar said.
The Dragons won 4-3 to gain a bit of revenge on their record in one-run games. The Dragons are 25-37 in the second half of the season and in last place in the Eastern Division. Twenty of their losses, including nine of the past 14, have come by one run.
“They’ve handled themselves well,” Bolivar said. “It’s been hard to get things to go our way, but I think the guys come back the next day and do their best.”
Andy Sugilio tied the score 1-1 in the fourth with a twoout single. The Dragons took a 4-1 lead in the seventh. The inning started when Alejo Lopez singled and alertly went to second when the center fielder bobbled the ball.
“That’s the reason why when you hit the ball you take the big, aggressive turn because something can happen there,” said Bolivar, who always coaches his team to run the bases hard and to put pressure on the defense. “You can make better decisions then and you make things happen.”
The Dragons loaded the bases and scored on RBI singles by Raul Wallace and Jeter Downs and on a fielder’s choice. Downs said the team has been talking with the coaches about focusing on doing all the little things well. An example was Lopez’s baserunning that kick-started the three-run inning.
“Props to him for taking the extra bag and putting pressure on the defense,” Downs said.
The Dragons got another good home start from Patrick McGuff, the former Sinclair pitcher and Hamilton High School graduate. McGuff allowed six hits and one run in six innings to lower his home ERA to 3.14 in six starts. He has a 5.56 ERA on the road and is at 3.74 for the season in nine starts.
The run he allowed was an inside-the-park homer by Brandon Grudzielanek off the center-field fence. Lorenzo Cedrola crashed into the wall and didn’t get up. By the time another outfielder could get there to retrieve the ball it was too late. Cedrola eventually walked off the field and was replaced.