DAYTON — Minor league baseball is not about the wins and losses. Anyone will tell you that. The players are the show, as much as the team.

That said, losing does wear on teams, as the Dayton Dragons have discovered in 2012.

“I’m not one of these guys who says, ‘It doesn’t matter about the score,’ ” Dragons manager Delino DeShields said. “If it doesn’t matter, why do they keep score? It always matters. You want to develop that winning type of attitude.”

The Dragons, the only Midwest League team to start the second half 0-5, had that attitude Wednesday at Fifth Third Field. They scored nine runs in the third inning — the most in one inning since May 22, 2009, and the most in a home game since July 17, 2007 — on their way to a 10-3 victory over Lake County.

There were no Aroldis Chapman somersaults after the win, just high-fives.

“We’ve been struggling,” catcher Yovan Gonzalez said. “That’s all I can say. ... It’s a perfect feeling right now after losing five games in a row.”

After blowing a two-run lead in the ninth Tuesday and losing 5-2 in the 12th, the Dragons needed something positive.

“It would have stunk if we had lost every game of the homestand,” DeShields said. “We needed one. We were desperate two or three days ago.

“Realistically, we should have won three of those first five games. It’s not like we’re playing terrible. We’ve just got to tighten it up.”

Five different Dragons drove in runs in the big inning. Gonzalez drove in the first with a groundout to third and the last three with a three-run home run.

Dragons pitchers did the job, too. Carlos Gonzalez pitched three innings of one-hit ball, allowing one run. He was promoted from Billings to take the place of Daniel Tuttle, who was placed on the disabled list (elbow).

The Dragons now go on the road for six games at South Bend and Bowling Green.

“Now we’ve got to keep fighting,” second baseman Ryan Wright said. “We have to keep building off this win.”