The first-place Dragons began what they hope will be another long string of victories Sunday in pursuit of a playoff berth with a 7-2 victory over Cedar Rapids. The Dragons completed a 5-1 series win, increased their lead to 5 1/2 games over West Michigan in the Midwest League East Division second-half standings and reduced their magic number for winning the division to seven.
The keys to making that happen: Pitching coach Brian Garman started with a speech about the importance of looking forward, followed by a three-run first inning, and relying on help from old friend Jacob Hurtubise on a run-scoring double steal.
“We talked this morning about we have to win this game,” shortstop Leo Balcazar said.
Hector Rodriguez started the rebound with a leadoff triple in the first and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jay Allen II. Then the Dragons took advantage of a two-out walk to Cam Collier when Balcazar homered for a three-run lead. Balcazar has five home runs, all in the second half of the season, and is hitting .342 over his past 28 games.
“I’m trying to take really good ABs and just hit the ball really hard,” he said.
Hurtubise, who played in Dayton in 2021 and was a fan favorite, joined the Dragons on Sunday and will be with them for this week’s home series against West Michigan on a minor-league rehab assignment from AAA Louisville while he recovers from abdominal strains. He started in right field and made a sliding catch near the foul line to start the game. In the third, he was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a two-out throwing error that allowed Balcazar to reach base.
With Cade Hunter at the plate, Balcazar broke for second. As soon as the catcher threw toward second, Hurtubise broke for home. And despite the shortstop cutting the throw short and firing home, the speedy Hurtubise slid home with a run to complete the double steal.
“The thing that’s supposed to be the most hindering from my injury is getting to top speed,” Hurtubise said. “And so when he put it on, I was like, this will be a good test. And I saw the release of the catcher and just took off.”
Hurtubise played three innings, expects to play six Tuesday, take Wednesday off and go from there. When he heard he was coming to Dayton he didn’t realize the Dragons were the hottest team in the league, now winners of 14 of their last 17.
“One of the things that V-Hay talked about was just how the team responds after a loss and after a big win streak,” Hurtubise said. “So going out there, getting a couple balls early and then doing my thing on the bases was a lot of fun.”
Hurtubise played in 29 games for the Reds and batted .185 with two stolen bases from mid-May to mid-June before going back to Louisville.
“It was a great experience,” Hurtubise said. “Obviously, I wasn’t up there as long as I wanted, and I didn’t perform as well as I wanted. But just getting that experience is going to help me in the long run. I know what I need to do. And going into this offseason, I can create a plan that’ll help me get there and stay there.”
The Dragons had other chances to score but didn’t until the eighth when another player back with the Dragons got the big hit. After Cade Hunter doubled and Victor Acosta reached on a bunt single, Trey Faltine lined a two-run single to left for a 6-2 lead that was followed by Ethan O’Donnell’s RBI single for the final run.
Faltine played a backup role with the Dragons last year and batted .103. He began this season at Low-A Daytona. After a slow start, he said he made some positive adjustments to his approach, hit .282 since June 29 and joined the Dragons on Tuesday.
“I feel like there’s a really good environment they got going on here,” Faltine said. “To come join that at the end of season, it’s special and fun to be part of.”
The Dragons host West Michigan this week. If the Dragons win four games, the Whitecaps will be eliminated. Great Lakes is six games back in third place. The Dragons finish the season with a series at Great Lakes.
“We’ve talked to them about being present – that’s been the message all year, even when we weren’t in the spot that we’re in,” Harrison Jr. said. “We can’t control what everyone else does. We’re responsible for our actions and what we do. And that’s all we can do.”
TUESDAY’S GAME
West Michigan at Dayton, 7:05 p.m., 980
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