FORT WAYNE – Fort Wayne’s offense gave Matt Wisler five runs in the first inning.

The right-handed pitcher from Bryan, Ohio, did the rest.

Wisler and three relievers held Dayton to six hits in a 5-0 victory in front of 8,025 fans Saturday at Parkview Field.

“It’s great getting run support. These guys have been fantastic the whole second half getting runs,” Wisler said. “Just going out there, it allows me to relax and get outs.”

Wisler gave up four hits in five scoreless innings. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.

“The slider was good again tonight, fastball location for the most part was good,” Wisler said.

It was Wisler’s second straight start against Dayton. He struck out a career-high nine batters on Aug. 11 at Dayton, but he did not factor in the decision. He gave up two runs on four hits in five innings in that outing.

“They know what’s coming a lot. I just have to make good pitches,” Wisler said.

“Knowing that they know my tendencies and what I like to throw in situations, I try to mix that up to keep them off-balanced.”

Fort Wayne’s (32-22, 63-61 overall) first eight batters reached base against Dayton (22-30, 52-70) starter James Allen.

“The guys were aggressive. They were getting good pitches to hit and put good swings on it,” Fort Wayne manager Jose Valentin said. “And they were aggressive on the bases and we took advantage.”

Yeison Asencio knocked in two runs with a double. He scored later in the inning when Kyle Gaedele was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Travis Jankowski drove in Connor Powers with a single, and Jace Peterson knocked in Lee Orr with another base hit.

“The first inning, if we can set the tone, it’s always good for the rest of game,” said Peterson, who had two singles in the inning and was 3 for 5 in the game.

Valentin wanted to see a little more out of the offense after the first inning.

“Any time you have the chance to score some runs, you have to make something happen and get those runs,” Valentin said.

Valentin was much more pleased with the bullpen’s performance, namely from Cody Hebner. The right-hander returned from an undisclosed suspension and threw two scoreless relief innings.

“He got a second opportunity to go out and show the good pitcher that he is. He was aggressive,” Valentin said. “The fastball was good. He threw strikes and worked ahead.”

Hebner’s suspension started Aug. 9. He will be used out of the pen.

“They said I needed to go down to Arizona and work on some things,” he said when asked of the reason for the suspension.

Pitcher Chris Fetter was promoted to Advanced-A Lake Elsinore as the corresponding roster move.

“It means everything,” Hebner said of his return. “It’s awesome. I missed these guys a lot. I like coming back here.”

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