Dragons no-hit for 1st time since 2014

When Edwin Arroyo hit a leadoff line drive to center field, the thought throughout Day Air Ballpark was there goes the no-hitter. But Fort Wayne’s Jakob Marsee made a diving catch coming in for the out. Two outs later the Dragons were 6-0 losers and the victim of a three-pitcher no-hitter.

“We hit a lot of balls hard right at people,” said Dragons manager Bryan LaHair, who was part of a no-hitter for the first time in his pro career as a player, coach or manager. “That was just supposed to happen, I guess.”

LaHair had a single thought when the ball left Arroyo’s bat in the ninth.

“I thought it was going to be a hit just like most of the ones he hits – he keeps finding gloves,” LaHair said of the Reds’ No. 3 prospect who is hitting .189. “He’s been having a lot of good at-bats and a lot of hard outs. It’s just really a lot tough luck for that kid right now. He’s got a lot of good stuff coming his way, that’s for sure.”

At least this no-hitter wasn’t on national television. The last time the Dragons were no-hit the game was part of a series of minor-league games on the CBS Sports Network. On July 10, 2014, South Bend’s Blayne Weller went all nine innings and no-hit the Dragons in Dayton.

Weller, 24 at the time, had previously pitched in an independent minor league and was out of baseball after the 2016 season. Fort Wayne’s starter on Tuesday, Jairo Iriarte, however, figures to reach the majors. Iriarte, 21, was signed by San Diego when he was 16 out of Venezuela and has risen to be the Padres’ No. 11 prospect according to MLB.com.

Iriarte (2-2) pitched six innings, hit one batter and struck out eight. Alan Mundo pitched the next 1 2/3 innings and left with an injury. Adam Smith finished.

The Dragons’ baserunners were Austin Callahan in the second when he was hit, Michael Trautwein on walks in the sixth and eighth and Jack Rogers when he was hit in the ninth. Arroyo also reached in the sixth on a fielder’s choice and stole second.

The Dragons (15-19) struck out 10 times. The other best chances for hits were Callahan’s line drive to the first baseman in the fifth and Austin Hendrick’s fly out to the warning track in center to end the game.

Dragons’ starter Hunter Parks (2-2) also suffered an off night, allowing four runs in three innings. After allowing four runs in his season debut, Parks allowed just one run in his next four starts over 20 innings.

Tuesday’s downer against the 12-22 Tincaps came in the Dragons’ first home game following a 7-5 road trip. The Dragons hit .228 on the road and the pitching shined with a 2.83 ERA. They are 1-11 in one-run games and continued to be plagued by that with four one-run losses on the trip through Lansing and Peoria.

“They played a lot of quality games,” LaHair said of the road trip. “Our defense was really solid the whole trip. And 7-5 was OK – we lost some close ones that we could have won.”

The best development on the trip was Hendrick busting out of an early-season slump. He batted .373 in the previous 13 games. Blake Dunn, however, hit .174 on the trip after being named the Midwest League and the Reds’ minor-leaguer player of the month in April. He had Tuesday night off.