Fort Wayne Cracks 5 Home Runs in Win over Dragons; Last Game of 2023 is Sunday at 1:10

Fort Wayne 7, Dragons 1

Click here for the box score

Fort Wayne (R-H-E): 7-9-2; Dayton (R-H-E): 1-4-0

Win: Austin Krob (5-3); Loss: Carson Rudd (5-8); Save: Carter Loewen (3)

HR: Dayton: None HR: Fort Wayne: Kervin Pichardo, 2 (7^th, 0 on base in fifth inning; 8^th, 0 on base in ninth inning); Griffin Doersching (4^th, 0 on base in seventh inning); Albert Fabian (4^th, 0 on base in seventh inning); Kai Murphy (1^st, 1 on base in ninth inning).

Dayton, Ohio—The Fort Wayne TinCaps hit five home runs including two by Kervin Pichardo on the way to a 7-1 victory over the Dayton Dragons on Saturday night. The contest was the next-to-last game of the 2023 season for the Dragons.

A crowd of 8,341 was in attendance at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District.

Fort Wayne took the lead with a single run in the top of the third inning before the Dragons evened the score in the bottom of the third. Dayton’s Hector Rodriguez reached on an infield single to start the inning and went to second on a two-out walk to Sal Stewart. Allan Cerda followed with a single to center field to drive in Rodriguez from second and tie the game.

Fort Wayne jumped ahead again in the fifth on a solo home run with two outs by Pichardo to make it 2-1. In the seventh, Fort Wayne got back-to-back home runs from Griffin Doersching and Albert Fabian to extend their lead to 4-1. Pichardo hit his second home run of the night with two outs and the bases empty in the ninth. One batter later, Kai Murphy hit a two-run homer for Fort Wayne to run the score to 7-1.

Dragons starting pitcher Carson Rudd (5-8) worked the first five innings, allowing two runs on just two hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He was charged with the loss. Owen Holt replaced Rudd to start the sixth and allowed two runs in one and two-thirds innings, giving up four hits with one walk and three strikeouts. Zach Maxwell entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh and got a strikeout to strand three runners. Maxwell pitched a scoreless eighth inning but allowed three runs in the ninth, surrendering a pair of home runs with two outs.

Up Next: The Dragons (33-32, 66-65) host Fort Wayne (37-28, 69-62) in the final game of the 2023 season on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. at Day Air Ballpark in the heart of the Water Street District. Johnathan Harmon, recently promoted to the Dragons from Single-A Daytona, will make his first start at the High-A level. For ticket information, go to daytondragons.com/tickets or call (937) 228-2287.

On the Air: The Dragons game on Sunday will be televised on the Dayton CW (Channel 26; Spectrum Cable channels 13 and 1013). All Dragons home and road games are broadcast on radio on FOX Sports 980 AM WONE. Games can be heard on smart phones, iPads, and other mobile devices via the free Dragons Mobile App, or on a computer at wone.com. Games are also available on HD Radio on 104.7 WTUI HD 2.

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