Dragons lose, but Siri extends hitting streak to 27 games

The Dayton Dragons managed four hits Friday night at Fifth Third Field in an 8-1 loss to Peoria, but Jose Siri had one of them, extending his team-record hitting streak to 27 games.

Siri swatted the first pitch he saw leading off the first inning for a double and now owns what is believed to be the fifth-longest hitting streak in Midwest League history, longest since 2000 when Garvin Wright of Michigan hit safely in 29 straight.

The league record is 35, set in 1977 by Waterloo’s Tony Toups, who played three seasons in the Indians farm system and never made the majors.

Siri’s is the longest current streak in the minor leagues. That record is 69 games by Joe Wilhoit of the Western League in 1919.

An outfielder from the Dominican Republic, Siri is hitting .342 with 15 home runs since May 21 with a slugging percentage of .658, third in the minors over that span.

After a rain delay of just over an hour, Peoria scored twice in the first and once in the second before adding three in the fifth for a 6-0 lead, eventually denying the Dragons their first series sweep since they took four in a row from Fort Wayne from June 30 to July 3.

Dayton scored in the fifth when Siri reached on an error and came home on a two-out error in the outfield on a ball hit by Taylor Trammell.

Trammell is another hot-hitting Dragon. A first-inning single gave him a hit in 20 of his last 21 games.

The outfielder is second in the MWL with 101 hits while leading the league in stolen bases (28). The Georgia native also ranks in the top five in the MWL in RBIs (54), runs (55), triples (9) and total bases (161).

Dragons tales

• After a slow start following his promotion from Billings on June 22, Mark Collymore has settled in. Over his last six games, he is hitting .375 with a home run to raise his average from .189 to .245. Gabrille Ovalle has also rallied, going from .071 to .208. Shane Mardirosian is still looking for a groove, hitting .196.

• It was a tough Fifth Third Field debut for pitcher Alex Webb on Friday. Starting in place of ace Scott Moss, who went on the disabled list July 18 with an undisclosed injury, he lasted three innings, allowing three runs on five hits, striking out two and walking three. Peoria hit back-to-back two-out home runs in the first off Webb. He allowed his third run on a bases-loaded wild pitch.

Moss leads the MWL in wins (10) and strikeouts (119).

• Dayton’s 6-5 win over Peoria in 13-innings Thursday night snapped an eight-game losing streak in extra-inning games. The Dragons had won five of their first six extra-inning games before the slide.

• Dayton steps out of Eastern Division play when it welcomes Burlington tonight at 7 to open a three-game set. Burlington enters 12-15 in the second half and three games out of a playoff spot in the Western Division.

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