Abbott entered Sunday’s game in the fourth inning with the scored tied 1-1. He pitched the final six innings to earn his second victory as the first-place Dragons used a six-run fourth inning to thump West Michigan 9-2 to close a six-game series and win for the eighth time in nine games.
“I love starting, I love having the control of the game, but being a reliever I love that part too,” Abbott said. “I was telling (Mat) Nelson when we were shaking hands at the end of the game that I haven’t done this in years with a catcher because I haven’t pitched in the ninth in years. It was a fun experience.”
The entire afternoon – like the Dragons’ 11-4 start to the season – was fun. Castillo allowed one run and struck out four in 2 1/3 innings. Abbott shut down the Whitecaps (7-8) on one run and struck out 11. And the Dragons hit four homers one day after hitting three. Nick Quintana, Elly De La Cruz, Allan Cerda and Nelson hit solo homers. The Dragons have hit 20 homers, which is the amount league leader Fort Wayne had entering Sunday’s games.
“The weather’s warming up a little bit, and they’re swinging the bat a little quicker in the box,” Dragons manager Bryan LaHair said. “It’s like we just came from Arizona, and that’s how they were swinging in Arizona. It’s just a good team.”
The Reds drafted Abbott, a left-hander, in the second round last year and he is rated the Reds’ No. 13 prospect by MLB.com. He has 25 strikeouts in 15 innings. He said he’s been able to use his fastball and curveball in conjunction with the scouting reports to get so many swings and misses.
“He’s just a flat out pitcher,” LaHair said. “He really knows how to pitch, knows how to command both sides of the plate and keeps them off balance. He makes hitters uncomfortable.”
Big bat: Alex McGarry didn’t come to Dayton with fanfare, but he’s becoming a fan favorite. After singling in the tying run in Saturday’s ninth-inning winning rally, he signed autographs after the game.
McGarry signed with the Reds out of Oregon State as an undrafted free agent after the 2020 draft was shortened to 20 rounds. McGarry, as LaHair says, “is making it really difficult on pitchers.”
McGarry leads the Dragons with five home runs, 11 RBIs, an .871 slugging percentage and a 1.232 OPS. He’s second on the team in batting average at .290 and on-base percentage at .361.
“I’m handling the pitches that I want to handle, trying not to miss the good ones and keeping it humble and keeping it rolling,” said McGarry, who splits time between first base, left field and DH. “The only thing that you can really handle in pro baseball is your job. For me that’s putting together good at-bats, swinging at the right pitches and putting the barrel on the baseball. To have done that out of the gate, feels good.”
Road trip: The Dragons will be at Fort Wayne this week in a battle of the top two teams in the Midwest League East Division. The Dragons hosted the Tincaps to start the season and won two of three games. Probable starters for the six-game series are Joe Boyle, James Proctor, Evan Kravetz, Connor Phillips, James Marinan and Abbott.
TUESDAY’S GAME
Dayton at Fort Wayne, 6:35 p.m., 980
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