Reds draft pick settles in but loses in his Dragons debut


Today's game: Bowling Green at Dayton, 7 p.m.; WONE-AM (980)

Down the street from Fifth Third Field on Monument Avenue, there was singing, dancing and celebrating at the Dayton Celtic Festival.

The luck of the Irish, though, fell about a Blarney Stone’s throw away from reaching Fifth Third Field. The Dayton Dragons dropped their fourth straight game following a 6-0 loss to the Bowling Green Hot Rods on Sunday afternoon.

Alex Webb made his Dragons debut on the mound and calmed down after allowing two runs in the first inning.

“You have to tell yourself this is the same game you’ve been playing your whole life. These are just hitters,” said Webb, the Cincinnati Reds’ ninth-round pick (No. 258 overall) in the June amateur draft. “As long as you make the same pitches you’ve always made, you’ll be fine. Just trust yourself. That’s all it is.”

Still, Webb said he felt the nerves as he stood on the Fifth Third Field mound with an announced crowd of 7,930 watching.

Webb surrendered a double on his third pitch to lead-off hitter Michael Russell. He then walked Brandon Lowe. Kevin Padlo singled up the middle for the 1-0 lead three batters into the game. A single by Brett Sullivan made it 2-0, but the Dragons’ defense gave Webb a confidence boost by throwing Padlo out at home.

Webb then got a pair of ground outs – reaching above his head to glove a bouncer for one of the outs – to end the inning.

“A little jittery in the first inning. But once you get a couple outs under your belt you start to settle down,” he said. “By the time I went out for my second inning, my third inning I felt better.”

Webb – a native of Surrey, British Columbia – allowed three hits and two runs (one earned) in three innings pitched. He struck out one and walked two.

Webb needed just nine pitches to get through the second inning in order with a strikeout, ground out and pop up. He sandwiched that inning with 25 pitches in the first inning and 24 in the third.

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