Graham was in the nine hole and grateful for the opportunity. After striking out twice and grounding out, he came to bat in the eighth inning with the bases loaded, two outs and trailing by a run. Stomachs were churning.
Would Harrison Jr.’s gut feeling leave him satisfied or add to the obvious indigestion that would have come with blowing a five-run lead?
Harrison Jr. was coaching third base and in the best spot in Day Air Ballpark for what happened next. Graham ripped a double down the third-base line just out of the reach of the third baseman. Harrison Jr. waved home Cam Collier, Leo Balcazar and Ethan O’Donnell with the first-place Dragons’ final runs in an 8-6 victory.
“My deal was I’m throwing him back out there because of that simple fact,” Harrison Jr. said of Graham’s Saturday night home run. “There’s a lot of bad that can come out of last night’s game, but for me, that was one of the good things.”
Graham was in the exact situation he wanted. In Thursday’s 4-3 win over Fort Wayne, Graham struck out in the eighth inning against Jackson Smeltz, the same pitcher he beat Sunday.
“I spent the last few days just working my ass off and dreaming about getting that same opportunity again,” Graham said. “I didn’t want to let it go to waste. A bunch of guys had really good at-bats in front of me, and I just wanted to be the next guy.”
The drama came long after the Dragons (18-12) built a 5-0 lead in the first three innings on the strength of a two-run double by Hector Rodriguez and a two-run homer by Balcazar. But the TinCaps chipped away at the Dragons’ bullpen and took a 6-5 lead in the eighth on a three-run double by Kai Murphy.
Collier and Balcazar began the winning rally with line-drive singles. Then O’Donnell put down a perfect bunt toward third base that he beat out for a single to load the bases with no outs. Two outs later the bases were still loaded for the biggest hit of Graham’s brief time with the Dragons.
“That pitcher on the mound is legit, he’s got good stuff and left on left always makes it difficult,” O’Donnell said of Smeltz. “I just knew if I can make the third baseman field the ball, I would at least move the runners over. I was fortunate to get a hit out of that. Just looking to do a job.”
O’Donnell also made a hard-charging and diving catch in left field to end the seventh inning with the bases loaded to preserve a 5-3 lead.
“Ethan’s a phenomenal defender,” Harrison Jr. said. “If I had a dollar for every time I’ve seen him make that catch, I’d be able to buy a couple of value meals.”
For five innings, the Dragons got great value from starter Gabriel Aguilera, a 23-year old from Venezuela and the brother-in-law of former Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez. Aguilera allowed one hit that came with two outs in the fourth inning. Sunday was his second straight five-inning, one-hit, shutout start.
“I was trying to do a really good job for my team and win this series,” Aguilera said. “Two weeks ago I wasn’t throwing really good. Now I’ve made adjustments.”
The Dragons won the series 4-2 and turn their attention to a six-game series at Lansing. The Dragons lead the Lugnuts (14-16) by four games and West Michigan (15-14) by 2.5 games in the race for the division’s second-half playoff berth. The Dragons will host West Michigan the final week of August.
“I just want to be a piece to a puzzle that can win a championship in this league,” said Graham, an eighth-round pick from Stanford in 2023. “I got a bunch of awesome teammates around me, so getting here was one the best things to happen to me in a while.”
The Dragons sure needed him Sunday.
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