Loons fall to Dragons

Justin Miller was solid Monday night for the Loons.

But Dayton’s Curtis Partch was better.

The Dragons’ right-hander out-dueled Miller for the second consecutive start, leading his team to a 4-1 victory over the Loons before a sold out crowd at Fifth Third Field.

Partch (5-9) allowed three hits and no walks over six shutout innings. Jeff Jeffords entered in relief and recorded the final nine outs for his fifth save.
Jeffords allowed one unearned run in the ninth.

Miller (4-10) was solid as well. His one mistake was a line drive solo home run surrendered to Dayton catcher Devin Mesoraco in the second inning. Miller allowed four hits and three walks, striking out three.

Partch and Miller faced each other last Wednesday with Partch leading Dayton to a 4-2 win in Midland.

The score remained 1-0 all the way until the seventh inning, when the Dragons plated three unearned runs. With one out, Keltavious Jones grounded to second baseman Parker Dalton. Dalton attempted to tag Justin Reed running from first to second, but the ball popped out of Dalton’s glove.

Later in the inning with two outs, catcher Jessie Mier recorded a passed ball with the bases loaded to give Dayton a 2-0 lead. Then Neftali Soto hit a ground rule double to center to drive home two more runs.

The Loons were held scoreless until the ninth inning. Jovanny Rosario reached on an error charged to third baseman Brandon Waring and later scored on a single by Andrew Lambo.

The Loons and Dragons conclude their series Tuesday with a 7:00 p.m. game at Fifth Third Field. Left-hander Garrett White (2-2, 3.41 ERA) will start for the Loons against right-hander Juan Rafael (3-2, 4.54).