A five-run third inning by the Great Lakes Loons proved to be too much for the Dayton Dragons to overcome as they fell 8-3 in the series finale Monday.

The teams played before a crowd of 9,023 at Fifth Third Field on Monday night.

The Dragons got the scoring underway in the second inning.  Yorman Rodriguez lined a single to center and scored the game’s first run on a Ryan Wright double to the right-center field wall. Wright came around to score on an error to make it 2-0.

But Great Lakes took the lead in the third.  The inning started with the first three Loons batters reaching base.  Darnell Sweeney singled, advanced to second when Jesus Arredondo walked, and scored on Joe Winker’s single.  Arredondo scored on Pratt Maynard’s ground out to tie the game, and Winker scored on a two-out error by Dragons first baseman Sean Buckley to give the Loons a 3-2 lead.  Two batters later, Jeff Hunt doubled to right to drive in two more runs and make it 5-2.

The Dragons scored a single run in the fifth inning, taking advantage of two Loons errors in the frame to make it 5-3, but they could get no closer.  Great Lakes added runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to close out the scoring.

“Pitching did not hold up tonight,” Dragons Manager Delino DeShields said. “We had some chances tonight.”

In the losing effort, Wright extended his hitting streak to 17 straight games, three short of the club record.  His current streak is the third longest in club history.  Rodriguez also pushed his hitting streak to nine straight.

Dayton starting pitcher Carlos Gonzalez (0-3) tossed the first three innings and allowed six hits and five runs (two earned) while walking two and striking out three to suffer the loss.  Dan Jensen followed Gonzalez and fired three scoreless innings, allowing no hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

“He (Jensen) has been fighting command,” Dragons’ Pitching Coach Tom Browning said. “I think he finally realized to just go out there and relax. He went out there nice and relaxed and got the job done.”

Lucas O’Rear tossed the final three innings for the Dragons, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and no strikeouts.

The Dragons finished with seven hits.  Kyle Waldrop was 2 for 4 to lead the way.  The Dragons went 0 for 14 with runners in scoring position.

The Dragons ended the homestand with a 4-2 record and won two-out-of-three in their series with the Loons.

“I am confident in these kids,” DeShields said. “If we get pitching, we will be in a lot of games. There is still a lot of baseball left to play but I like the way we are playing right now.”