Then the Dragons proved that notion wrong. They brushed off an 11-2 loss Tuesday and a 3-0 deficit after three innings Wednesday with the kind of response that has put them in first place in the Midwest League East Division.
The Dragons scored two runs in the fourth, three in the eighth and held West Michigan to two hits over the final five innings for a 5-3 victory at Day Air Ballpark and increased their division lead to five games with 10 games left.
“We’re not stressing the importance of getting one,” Dragons manager Vince Harrison Jr. said. “We’re just stressing doing what we’ve got to do. When you stress the importance of a game, you add nerves, you add all these other factors that we don’t want.”
The Dragons (36-20) have a magic number of six against Great Lakes (30-24), which moved ahead of West Michigan into second place with an extra-inning victory at South Bend. The Whitecaps (30-25) are 5 1/2 games back. The Dragons can eliminate West Michigan this week with three more wins. Great Lakes, however, could be alive when the Dragons begin the season’s final six-game series at Great Lakes on Monday.
After three innings of nothing because of what Harrison Jr. called a passive approach, the Dragons got to Whitecaps starter Jaden Hamm, one of the top pitchers in the league. Hector Rodriguez lined a leadoff single and O’Donnell bunted for a hit to start the comeback.
O’Donnell stole second base, and when the catcher’s throw went into center field for an error, Rodriguez scored easily. Then John Michael Faile singled home O’Donnell.
O’Donnell’s ability to bunt for hits has helped the Dragons numerous times this season.
“Sometimes I kind of look at V-Hay and Jefrey (Sierra) over at first or before the inning,” O’Donnell said. “We know it’s there, but it’s just feeling the situation and reading the defense. Sometimes it’s as the pitch is coming in.”
In the fifth, Carter Graham led off with a single after falling behind 0-2.
“You talk about not giving in, and man, he just didn’t give in,” Harrison Jr. said. “His first at-bat – I wouldn’t say he gave in – but next time he just fought a little harder.”
And the inning got rolling. Victor Acosta was hit by a pitch, Connor Burns walked, and with one out Leo Balcazar ripped a line drive off the pitcher’s leg for an infield single and Graham scored to tie the score. O’Donnell followed with a single to score the go-ahead run and Cam Collier added the final run with a sacrifice fly.
“Obviously, we didn’t come out how we wanted to yesterday, but that’s the game of baseball,” O’Donnell said. “The beautiful thing about it is we came out here with an opportunity to win, and did so.”
The early deficit could have been worse if not for double plays to end the first and second innings. And Graham Osman made just enough pitches after getting behind to keep the score close. He pitched scoreless fourth and fifth innings and struck out the leadoff hitter in the sixth before leaving.
“Osman was behind a lot of guys, but he found ways out of jams and kept them to three,” Harrison Jr. said. “And that was big.”
If any Dragon had succumbed to playoff-chase pressure, it would have been Osman. He started the season in Dayton but struggled with a 6.48 ERA in seven relief appearances. He went back to Low-A Daytona and had a 3.47 ERA in 16 appearances and two starts in August. He said he is grateful for the second chance.
“I was just doing my best to focus on what I needed to do tonight to help the team win,” Osman said. “And it was a little iffy early, but I was able to lock it in, and I was able to get with Connor and work things out.”
Harrison Jr. said he wasn’t worried about Osman being sent to Dayton to be the starter.
“I’m not going to be nervous for the guy,” Harrison Jr. said. “I need him to see my full support and feel that from me. So the fact of nerves becoming an issue, it can’t come from me. It can’t come from our staff. Players are going to have that on their own. It’s our job to just try to get these guys prepared and have them ready for the moment.”
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