LANSING, Mich. - The Lansing Lugnuts (32-24) defeated the Dayton Dragons (36-22) for a second straight night, winning 7-5 on Wednesday at Cooley Law School Stadium.Dayton, the second-place team in the Eastern Division, saw its wild-card lead trimmed to three games over the Lugnuts with 11 games remaining in the first
LANSING, Mich. - The Lansing Lugnuts (32-24) defeated the Dayton Dragons (36-22) for a second straight night, winning 7-5 on Wednesday at Cooley Law School Stadium.
Dayton, the second-place team in the Eastern Division, saw its wild-card lead trimmed to three games over the Lugnuts with 11 games remaining in the first half of the Midwest League season. The third-place South Bend Cubs remained one game behind Dayton after losing to Bowling Green.
All nine Lugnuts starters hit safely, led by two-hit efforts from Eastern Division All-Stars Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. as well as J.B. Woodman and Ridge Smith . Bichette extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a 2-for-5 showing.
Dragons starter Ty Boyles(Loss, 1-1) lasted 3 2/3 innings, allowing four runs in the third inning and a Bichette two-run double in the fourth.
The Dragons rallied for three runs in the fifth against Lansing starter Andy Ravel , turning a 6-2 deficit into a 6-5 nail-biter, but were held scoreless for the final 4 1/3 innings by three Lugnuts relievers.
Griffin Glaude (Win, 2-1) came in for Ravel and tossed 1 2/3 innings, stranding runners at first and third in the fifth.
Dan Lietz pitched the next 2 1/3 innings, coaxing a double-play grounder in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings. Nick Hartman (Save, 1) entered for Lietz with two on and two out in the ninth, retiring All-Star Michael Beltre on a groundout to Bichette at shortstop to end the game.
Lansing designated hitter Nick Sinay was hit by a pitch for the 16th and 17th times, all accomplished in the span of just 24 games.
The Lugnuts go for the three-game sweep of Dayton on a Labatt Thirsty Thursday starting at 12:05 p.m., with right-hander Osman Gutierrez (0-4, 16.36) facing Dragons right-hander Andrew Jordan (3-4, 4.53). Gates open at 11 a.m., with $2 beer/soda specials and half off craft beers. Tickets may be purchased at the Cooley Law School Stadium box office, by calling (517) 485-4500 or via lansinglugnuts.com.
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