Apr. 26—From 1:06 to 3:06 p.m. on Sunday, April 26, the weather turned nicer and nicer with each passing inning at Day Air Ballpark. But from pitch No. 1 to pitch No. 108, no improvement was required.
The Dayton Dragons enjoyed the luxury of Reds left-hander Nick Lodolo’s rehab assignment preceding Nestor Lorant’s most dominant performance since joining the Dragons at the start of the 2025 season.
They combined for a four-hit shutout, no walks and 15 strikeouts to lead the Dragons to a 3-0 victory over South Bend to gain a split in the six-game series.
“It’s really fun to play defense behind guys like that, who just fill up the strike zone and they get the job done,” Dragons left fielder Kien Vu said. “Lodolo is fun to watch. And Nestor’s an outstanding pitcher, too. He makes his stuff play up, and it’s a lot of fun to play defense.”
Lodolo made his first rehab appearance since opening the season on the injured list with another blister on his left index finger. He allowed two hits and struck out seven. He couldn’t have pitched much better.
The Reds planned for Lodolo to pitch four innings. But he was so efficient that 42 pitches wasn’t enough. So he pitched the fifth inning, struck out two, and finished with 51 pitches, including 39 for strikes.
Lorant is Dayton’s regular Sunday starter. He pitched the final four innings, allowing two hits and striking out eight on 57 pitches. From the last out of the sixth to the first out of the eighth, he struck out five straight Cubs. He allowed a single in the eighth but struck out the side.
“It’s kind of weird because I’m not used to pitching from the bullpen, but I still got to do my job,” Lorant said. “I thought it was going to be a little bit ha
rder, but my pitches, my strike zone was really good, so I just take advantage.”
Lorant entered with a 4.50 ERA and lowered it to 3.50. His best start in 2025 came on August 9 against Lake County in a no-decision. He pitched five scoreless innings, allowed one hit, walked three and struck out six. Otherwise, Lorant was 2-10 in 24 starts with a 5.79 ERA.
Sunday was a great sign for Lorant who came to Dayton with high hopes of quickly taking the next step. He was the Reds minor league pitcher of the year and the Florida State League pitcher of the year in 2024 with an 8-3 record in 22 starts and a 1.44 ERA before a late-season promotion to Dayton.
“His changeup was working really good today, and his fastball has a late life as well,” manager Julio Morillo said. “It’s a good combination when your fastball can get there quick, and then you have that changeup that looks like it stops in the air. Hitters have a tough time picking that up.”
Lodolo and Lorant got all they needed in the first inning when outfielder Kien Vu hit a one-out solo homer the opposite way to left field for his second homer of the series and the season.
“I was just aggressive to the heater, and I got it top of the zone,” Vu said. “I’m just trying to put a barrel on the ball, and I’m glad to see that it was in the air and it was a barrel. And those usually result in good things.”
Alfredo Alcantara, playing second base Sunday, launched a no-doubt solo homer — his second this season — over the Dragons’ No. 1 jersey sign near the left-field line for a 2-0 lead.
Dayton added a third run in the sixth with a little help from the Cubs. Yerlin Confidan reached on a swinging bunt that the pitcher couldn’t get to first in time. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when John Michael Faile reached on a throwing error by the second baseman.
Dayton (10-10) leaves town for two weeks as the fourth-place team in the Midwest League’s six-team East Division. They will play six games at Lansing (7-13) and six at West Michigan (12-9). So far the Dragons have split all four of their series, including two games at Lansing to open the season.
Vu doesn’t mind road trips. He likes exploring new cities. But he’s hoping for better results and said he feels like the Dragons are better than a .500 team.
“Our pitching has been outstanding, and then I think we have more in the tank for our hitters,” he said. “Once we start getting that rolling, it will be a lot of fun.”
A big help would be for catcher Alfedo Duno, the Red’s top-rated minor-league prospect, to get hot. He has struggled lately and is batting .197. Known for his power, he has one homer and nine RBIs batting out of the three hole.
“He’s been taking good at bats lately, but he’s not the bat that we all know he is,” Morillo said. “He’s working on it with [batting coach] Troy [Gingrich] a lot. I have no doubt that he’ll click as the season progress, and when that happens it’s going to be another weapon that we’re going to have in the lineup.”
New rule: One of baseball’s speed-up rules showed up Sunday. Batters are not permitted to call timeout with the bases empty. If they do, they are charged a strike.
In the eighth inning, Alcantara called timeout with the bases loaded and was assessed a strike. He already had two strikes, so the mistake cost him a strikeout.
Trevino treats: Reds catcher Jose Trevino caught five innings for the Dragons in a rehab assignment Friday. He promised Vu $500 if they hit back-to-back homers. Vu kept his end of the bargain with a homer with Trevino on base.
Instead, Trevino had dinner catered to the clubhouse. The menu included steak, parmesan macaroni and cheese and asparagus.