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MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Dayton , Ohio - Brrandon Menchaca singled off the glove of shortstop Brandon Taylor to bring in Denis Phipps with the winning run with no one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Dayton Dragons turned back a huge comeback bid by the Great Lakes Loons with a 10-9 victory on Tuesday. The Dragons・win couple with a loss by the Fort Wayne Wizards increased the Dragons lead to four and one-half games in the wildcard race.

The Dragons held leads of 6-1 and 9-5 but the Loons continue to battle. Great Lakes scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning against normally-reliable Dragons closer Aguido Gonzalez to tie the game at 9-9 and force a bottom of the ninth.

Phipps led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to center field for the Dragons and Michael McKennon followed with a single through the middle to move Phipps to third. Menchaca then smashed an 0-2 pitch to the left side. Taylor made a diving try but the ball brushed off his glove and on through to left field as Phipps scored the winning run.

The Dragons collected 18 hits in the game. Zack Cozart drove in four runs and had a home run while Jake Kahaulelio and Justin Reed each had three hits.

After Great Lakes scored one run in the top of the first, the Dragons scored twice in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Kahaulelio lined a single to left field to start the inning and Cozart blasted the first pitch from Garrett White high into the left field seats for a two-run home run to give Dayton a 2-1 lead.

The Dragons added two more runs in the third. Reed reached on a bunt single and went to second on a single to left by Kahaulelio. Two batters later, Brandon Waring tripled off the center field fence to bring in both Reed and Kahaulelio to make it 4-1.

In the fourth, the Dragons put together a two-out rally to add to their lead. Menchaca walked and Reed delivered an infield single. Kahaulelio singled to left to bring in Menchaca, and Cozart followed with a hit to left to drive in Reed and make it 6-1.

Great Lakes pulled back within two runs in the fifth. Dragons starting pitcher Juan Rafael issued back-to-back two-outs walks before giving up a three-run home run to Jovanny Rosario to make it 6-4.

The Dragons answered with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Menchaca began the inning with a hit to center and went to second on Reed痴 single to right. Kahaulelio was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Cozart followed with a sacrifice fly to right to give the Dragons a 7-4 lead. Neftali Soto added an infield single to bring in Reed and make it 8-4.

But Great Lakes would not give up. They scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings sandwiched around a Dayton run in the bottom of the seventh to pull to within three going to the ninth at 9-6. Gonzalez, who had allowed only one earned run all season over 31 innings in three leagues, surrendered three runs in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for the Dragons walk-off win in the bottom of the inning.

The Dragons begin an eight game road trip on Thursday at West Michigan at 7:00 p.m. Luis Montano, the Dragons top winner, will come off the disabled list to start for Dayton. He is 11-8 with a 3.93 earned run average.

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