Dayton Dragons return home this week on a six-game winning streak

May 11—The Dayton Dragons — the hottest team in the Midwest League — return to Day Air Ballpark this week riding a six-game winning streak.

Dayton beat West Michigan 8-4 on Sunday, May 10 to sweep the six-game series — just the fourth time that's happened in Dragons history.

The Dragons (19-14) remained tied for second place in the Midwest League East Division, 1.5-games back of first-place Great Lakes (20-12), a Los Angeles Dodgers affiliate.

Here's everything you need to know heading into this week's series with the Lake County Captains:

Last weekThe Dragons completed the six-game sweep of the Whitecaps, who have lost a club record 14 straight games. Sunday's victory was the last of a 13-game, two-city trip that saw the Dragons go 9-4.

They won one-run games on Tuesday and Wednesday — 5-4 and 4-3 — before beating the Whitecaps 8-5 on Thursday. They followed that up with an 8-0 win on Friday. They scored two runs in the top of the ninth to earn a 5-3 victory on Saturday.

What went rightThe long ball has been key in the Dragons winning streak. They led the Midwest League with 12 home runs last week and rank second in hits (60) and third in batting average (.278), doubles (11) and RBIs (35).

The pitching was also stellar during the West Michigan series. They allowed a league-low .190 batting average and held the Whitecaps to 19 runs.

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Player to watchReds top prospect Alfredo Duno is getting hot at the plate. He went 10 for 19 in the series against West Michigan, batting .526 for the series — the second-best average in the league over the past seven days. He led the league in slugging at 1.414. In the 13-game road trip, Duno was 16 for 40 (.400) with two home runs.

What's aheadThe Dragons start a six-game series on Tuesday, May 12 against the Lake County Captains (15-17), a Cleveland Guardians affiliate. {span}Beau Blanchard (3-2, 4.28 earned run average) will start for the Dragons.{/span}

The Captains are five games back in the East Division and are 4-6 in their last 10 games. They own a 7-5 road record this season. They split a series with the Dragons at Day Air Ballpark earlier this season.