Kernels 8, Dragons 2
HIGHLIGHTS: With Reds legends Eric Davis and Mario Soto looking on in their roles as roving instructors, fundamentals took a holiday as 2B Henry Rodriguez forgot to cover first on a sacrifice and SS Didi Gregorius committed his 22nd error, throwing away a double-play ball. In their nine-game home losing streak, which breaks a record that had stood since 2002, the Dragons have been outscored 55-30.
TURNING POINT: In the sixth, with the Dragons down 5-2, the first three Cedar Rapids batters hit safely against reliever Jamie Walczak and two scored, restoring a five-run deficit that proved insurmountable.
PITCHING STORY: Right-hander Ricky Bowen, who had allowed two or fewer runs in six of his seven starts, mixed in a clunker, yielding nine hits and five runs in three innings. One of the runs was unearned due to the Gregorius error. Pedro Villarreal, who has struggled since moving to the bullpen for the second half, worked two scoreless innings.
ON DECK: Cedar Rapids, the Dragons’ first opponent on April 27, 2000, is here through Friday. Quad Cities follows the Kernels to town for the weekend.
— Sean McClelland, staff writer
DAYTON — Lou Piniella’s retirement announcement this week did not cause Dayton Dragons manager Todd Benzinger to reach for the Kleenex box.
Although he wishes him well, Benzinger to this day bristles over Piniella’s decision to bench him at first base in favor of Hal Morris midway through the 1990 Cincinnati Reds championship season.
“Everything (about that team) gets rosier and rosier, but when you go back to the time, I was kind of miserable toward the end of my time with Lou’s Reds,” Benzinger said Wednesday, July 21, before the Dragons set a franchise record with their ninth consecutive Fifth Third Field loss, 8-2 to playoff-bound Cedar Rapids.
Piniella, a manager legendary for cap-kicking, base-throwing tantrums aimed at umpires, would have been proud of his former player in the eighth inning. Benzinger used no props in earning his second career ejection as a minor-league manager, but he apparently said all the right words.
At issue was whether Henry Rodriguez was entitled to first base after leading off the eighth by striking out on a pitch in the dirt and seemingly arriving there safely.
When home plate umpire Javier Cantu ruled Rodriguez out because his backswing interfered with Cedar Rapids catcher Jose Jimenez’s attempt to pick up the ball, Benzinger argued with both Cantu and base umpire Chris Nguyen, but to no avail.
The skipper did not go quietly, standing near home plate for another few minutes after getting the heave-ho.
“My version of putting on a show,” the generally even-tempered Benzinger said. “It’s embarrassing. Just a nonevent in a pretty boring game.”
Benzinger’s first ejection had come at the hands of these same umpires in April.
“With these guys,” he said, “I’m a combination of Lou Piniella and Bobby Cox.”
SOME LOU LOVE: Piniella, 66, does win points with Benzinger for staying in the game as long as he has — and for knowing when it’s time to get out.
“I feel good for him that he’s in position to (retire) and still have a lot of time left to do what he wants to do,” Benzinger said. “But I still think he’s young enough where he’ll get to May and June and wish he was at a baseball game.”
APOLOGY ACCEPTED: Late in the final game of the previous homestand, Benzinger benched Rodriguez for not running hard to first base after striking out on a pitch in the dirt. Benzinger said Rodriguez apologized two days later, on Wednesday, July 14, in Peoria before a game against the Chiefs.
“I appreciated that,” the manager said. “It showed that it kind of wore on him a little bit, being taken out like that.”
INJURY REPORT: Pitcher J.C. Sulbaran was placed on the seven-day disabled list with a contusion to his right (pitching) hand. Sulbaran had trouble gripping the ball during a 13-5 loss to Burlington on Sunday in which he gave up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings, threw two wild pitches and committed three throwing errors. ... CF Andrew Means left the game an inning after being hit in the ribs with a pitch.
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