Lansing - The Lugnuts broke out the brooms Sunday on the division-leading Dayton Dragons.
Lansing (19-12 second half, 56-44 overall) defeated Dayton 10-1 at Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave., to complete a four-game sweep of the Dragons. It is Lansing’s first-ever series sweep of Dayton (22-9, 54-47).
Dayton came into the series with the best record in the Midwest League and a seven-game lead over the third-place Lugnuts in the Eastern Division.
With the four straight wins, Lansing has pulled within three games of the Dragons and is 12 games over .500 for the season - the best this season.
Dayton did give the Lugnuts a bit of assistance throughout the series, especially Sunday. Dayton committed three errors in the series finale and had 13 for the series.
Lugnuts manager Julio Garcia said his team has taken advantage of opponents’ miscues much better in the second half of the season.
“I think we’ve been playing the tougher, higher-tier teams a little bit better now than we had in the first half,” he said. “Against the tougher teams you usually don’t get too many opportunities. In the first half of the season those opportunities came up and we couldn’t counter.
“In the second half, we’ve played a little bit more and we have a few more at bats under our belts so we’re able to get some clutch hits.”
In Sunday’s contest, Dayton right-hander Daylan Childress (8-8) had a tough outing and was not able to overcome three walks and his team’s defensive errors.
He pitched five and one-third innings allowing eight runs on six hits. But only three of the runs were earned.
The Lugnuts batted around in the second and sixth innings, scoring four - three unearned - and five runs, respectively, for the bulk of the scoring.
With the score 2-0 in the bottom of the second, first baseman Yban Esterlin scored two runs with his bases-loaded infield single. Lansing led 4-0 and never looked back.
“He threw a change-up and I was able to get it through the right side,” Esterlin said. “It was big for me to get hits and drive in some runs.”
Lansing right-hander Sergio Mitre (6-8) turned in a solid performance to go along with the offensive outburst. He pitched six innings, struck out four and didn’t allow a single walk while allowing one run.
“He had good command of his fastball and his curveball and change-up were both effective,” Lansing pitching coach Mike Anderson said. “He did a good job of keeping the ball down and getting groundball outs.”
Mitre had a solid performance, but it was not the headliner of the series.
In game three, Lansing right-hander B.J. Benik (6-2) became the first Lugnut pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout in more than two years as Lansing triumphed 7-0 in front of a season-high 11,502 fans.
The last such performance came courtesy of former Lugnut John Webb, who beat Fort Wayne 6-0 on July 14, 2000.
In game two, the Lugnuts defeated the Dragons 5-3. Center fielder Mike Mallory hit his 12th home run of the season, which broke a 3-3 tie.
The homer, the 24th of his career, tied him for first in Lugnuts history.
The Lugnuts won the first game of the series 6-5, although they managed just five hits.
The Lugnuts broke a scoreless tie with five runs in the fourth inning, which was aided by five Dayton errors.
In the sixth inning, designated hitter Adam Greenberg made the score 6-3 when he scored from second on a wild pitch.
The run turned out to be vital, as the Dragons scored twice in the top of the ninth before right-hander Steve Ellis recorded his 10th save of the season to end the game.
The Lugnuts will take their five-game winning streak into a four-game home and home series against the Michigan Battle Cats (19-12, 61-40).
“I just hope that we continue to do the same thing,” Garcia said. “We know that they have a very good base-running team. They’re very aggressive and they’re a very good defensive club.
“If we execute the way we are capable of, we should have a good series against them.”
