But on Friday night, his favorite Siri was in the outfield at Fifth Third Field. Dayton right fielder Jose Siri scored in the seventh and had an RBI in the eighth to help beat Quad Cities 3-1.
Dayton (24-11) still leads all 120 minor league teams in victories.
Siri leads the Midwest League in stolen bases (16) even though he’s hitting .222. He had two stolen bases in the seventh inning Friday, which came just before he scored on a sacrifice fly.
“He was the spark plug tonight,” Bolivar said.
Game changer: Siri played a crucial role in Dayton's first two runs.
Quad Cities took a 1-0 lead in the seventh, and Siri led off the bottom half of the inning with an infield single. He stole second while Taylor Trammell was at the plate, and after Trammell struck out, he stole third with Tyler Stephenson at the plate. Stephenson then flied out to right field, but Siri scored from third to tie the game.
“We love that our team has a lot of good runners, and we’re able to get to second and third easier,” Bolivar said. “We needed something badly there, and he came through huge for us.”
With the bases loaded and no outs in the eighth, Siri hit a hard ground ball to center field, and Luis Gonzalez scored from third to put Dayton up 2-1. The Dragons added another run before the inning was over.
“That was big right there,” Bolivar said of Siri’s hit. “It’s like every night, we’ve had a different guy come through to help the team win. I’m really proud of these guys.”
Dragons tales
• Starting pitcher Andrew Jordan avoided giving up a run in the seventh thanks to a fast throw from shortstop Hector Vargas.
The River Bandits had runners on second and third when Taylor Jones came to the plate. With a full count, Jones fouled off several pitches and then hit a hard grounder to Vargas, who grabbed the ball and fired to Stephenson at home plate. Stephenson tagged out Randy Cesar before he could reach home plate.
Quad Cities scored a run later in the inning after Jordan was pulled from the game.
• Brantley Bell got the night off after an impressive 10-game stretch. Bell, in his second season with Dayton, had a .375 batting average in the previous 10 games with six RBIs.
• The Dragons wrap up the series with Quad Cities on Saturday night. Tony Santillan (2-2, 3.55 ERA) is scheduled to start for Dayton, and Ryan Hartman (3-1, 3.51) is expected to start for the River Bandits.
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