Proctor, De La Cruz lead Dragons to DH split

Dragons starting pitcher James Proctor on the mound for the Dayton Dragons last season. From St. Louis, he is the grandson of former Detroit Tigers and Negro Leagues pitcher, Jim Proctor. He pitched at Princeton University, began his pro career as a free agent signee of the Cincinnati Reds and starred with the Daytona Tortugas in Low A ball last season before moving to the Dayton Dragons late last August. He’ll be part of the Dragons six-man starting pitchers’ rotation this season. Photo courtesy of Dayton Dragons

Dragons starting pitcher James Proctor on the mound for the Dayton Dragons last season. From St. Louis, he is the grandson of former Detroit Tigers and Negro Leagues pitcher, Jim Proctor. He pitched at Princeton University, began his pro career as a free agent signee of the Cincinnati Reds and starred with the Daytona Tortugas in Low A ball last season before moving to the Dayton Dragons late last August. He’ll be part of the Dragons six-man starting pitchers’ rotation this season. Photo courtesy of Dayton Dragons
Sports
By Jeff Gilbert – Contributing Writer
May 22, 2022
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James Proctor struck out a season-high eight batters over five strong innings and Elly De La Cruz delivered a two-run triple to lead the Dayton Dragons to a 4-2 win over the Quad Cities River Bandits in the second game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. Quad Cities won the first game 9-2.

The Dragons (26-12) second-game victory gave them a series win over Quad Cities. Dayton won four of six in the series. The first-place Dragons are 3 1/2 games ahead of Great Lakes.

In game two, the Dragons took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when J.V. Martinez and Michael Trautwein opened the frame with a pair of singles and Elly De La Cruz lined a double over the right fielder’s head with two outs to bring in both runners.

The Dragons added two more in the fourth as Allan Cerda and Ashton Creal both walked before a one-out double by J.V. Martinez drove them both in. Quad Cities closed out the scoring in the sixth on a solo home run by Parker Bates.

Proctor (3-2) worked five innings to earn the win, allowing one run on five hits with three walks and a season-high eight strikeouts. Carson Rudd pitched a perfect final inning to earn his third save.

Martinez was 2 for 2 with two RBI and a run scored for Dayton.

In the first game, Quad Cities broke a 2-2 tie with two runs in the fourth inning, then added three more in the fifth to extend their lead to 7-2 before closing out the scoring with two runs in the seventh.  Dayton’s only runs came on a first inning two-run home run by Rece Hinds, his fifth homer of the year.  Hinds and Allan Cerda each had two hits in the first game.

The Dragons are off Monday. They open a six-game series and road trip on Tuesday at the West Michigan Whitecaps.

TUESDAY’S GAME

Dayton at West Michigan, 6:05 p.m., 980

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About the Author

Jeff Gilbert