Rangers Fall to Blue Jays 11-3

The Dayton Rangers looked good for an inning, but the wheels ultimately fell off, losing 11-3 to the Dayton Blue Jays on Sunday, May 8 at AIA.

The Rangers jumped on the board in the top of the first as newcomer Ben Schubert laced a leadoff triple in his first Rangers appearance. Joe Staten followed with a deep sac fly to make it 1-0. But this would be the only lead of the game for the Rangers, as starter Shawn Schmitt was victimized by some porous defense in the bottom of the first. With a pair of costly errors, the Jays struck with four singles to plate 3 runs to take a 3-1 lead.  The score stood up until the bottom of the fourth when another throwing error allowed the bases to be loaded with two outs. Jays center fielder Brian Bay belted a two-strike fastball to the gap to score two runs and ultimately give the Jays a 6-1 advantage. Doubles by Jays’ batters Tyler Ott and Chris Musick and a triple by Will Howard allowed four more runners to score and give the Jays a commanding 10-1 lead heading into the sixth.

Schubert led off the sixth with a single and scored on Josh Cawein’s base hit. Robert Riley would later score on a wild pitch to make it a 10-3 score. The Jays would take on their 7^th unearned run of the day in the seventh for a final tally of 11-3.

Shawn Schmitt started for the Rangers and dropped to 1-1 on the year and remains one win shy of breaking the league’s all-time win mark. Joe Becker relieved Schmitt in the fourth and pitched 3+ innings allowing an unearned run while striking out two.

Offensive highlights: Josh Cawein 2-for-3, double, RBI; Brandon Riley 2-for-3, 3b; Ben Schubert 2-for-4, triple, 2 runs scored.

Historical Notes: James Robinson needs 4 more hits to get 200 career hits. Aaron Armstrong needs 2 more runs scored to reach 100 in the league. Shawn Schmitt is 5 strikeouts away from 400 career league punchouts.