Thompson's two-run homer sparks Dragons past Lansing
Justice Thompson belted a tie-breaking two-run home run in the seventh inn i ng a nd t he Dayton Dragons held on for a 4-2 victory over the Lansing Lugnuts on Tuesday night at Day Air Ballpark.
The Drag- ons improved to 12-23 in the second half (51-50 overall). Lansing fell to 14-23 (39-64).
Lansing jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second inning before the Dragons answered with a pair of runs in the bottom half. Dayton’s Noelvi Marte started the inning with a double over the head of the right fielder and Michel Triana was hit by a pitch. Jose Torres followed with a single to right field to drive in Marte and tie the game as Triana advanced to third. Torres was out trying to stretch the sin- gle into a double. One batter later, Mat Nelson delivered a double off the center field fence to drive in Triana and give the Drag- ons a 2-1 lead.
Lansing tied the game in the fourth and had chances
to take the lead, but the Lugnuts failed to deliver the big hit. Lansing went 1 for 17 on the night with runners in scoring position.
In the seventh, Dayton’s Tyler Callihan led off with a single to left field before Thompson connected on a long opposite field drive that cleared the right field fence to give Dayton a 4-2 lead.
Reliev e rs Myles Gayman a nd Den n is Boat- man c ombined to shut out the Lugnuts over the final two innings. Gayman (3-0) was credited with the win. He tossed two scoreless innings, allowing three h its with no walks and two strikeouts. Boatman allowed a two-out double in the ninth but notched a game-ending strikeout for his first save.
Rehabbing Reds reliever Art Warren pitched one scoreless inning for the Dragons, working the sixth. He allowed a lead-off double in the inning but retired the next three and stranded the base runner.
Dragons starting pitcher Christian Roa struck out nine over f ive innings, allowing four hits, three walks and two runs.
Nelson was 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI. Along with Thompson’s home run, Marte, Triana, and Brian Rey also added doubles.
Notes: The Dragons have not seen their full-season record fall under .500 at any time since the end of the 2019 season . ... The Lansing series continues tonight at 7 . ... Thompson was a sixth-round draft pick of the Reds in 2021 from North Carolina.