Washington Wins 8-4, Moves Into Wild-Card Tie

WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington Wild Things (44-38) continued their playoff hunt tonight with a win over the Lake Erie Crushers (38-43) on Santonio Holmes Night at Wild Things Park, by a final score of 8-4. This win gives them their second series victory in a row, and with the other results of the night around the league, the Wild Things are tied for the second wild-card spot.

Tyler Garkow (1-0) made his season debut tonight, and did it in strong fashion as he struck out 11 batters in his 6.1 innings of work while only allowing three runs on two hits and a walk.

For the second night in a row, the Lake Erie Crushers struck first with a two-run homer, this time coming in the second inning, off the bat of designated hitter Brandon Murray. The Wild Things were able to get one back in the bottom frame as catcher Kyle Pollock reached as third baseman Cody Lenahan mishandled a groundball and then threw the ball over the first baseman’s head, allowing Pollock to advance to second. He was then plated on a single to left field from third baseman Kenny Peoples-Walls.

Washington tied the game in their next turn at the plate as the first two batters walked to start the inning. They both were advanced to second and third, respectively, on a sacrifice bunt from centerfielder Rashad Brown. Left fielder Bralin Jackson then allowed the tying run to score as he grounded out to second base with Justin Bohn coming across the plate from third.

This score held until the bottom of the sixth as Peoples-Walls drove in two runs on a single, giving him his second and third RBI of the game and pushing his week total to 14. The Crushers were able to bring the game within a run in the next frame as Lenahan doubled in a run. Washington looked to widen their advantage after the seventh-inning stretch as the Wild Things loaded the bases with two outs, and first baseman Kane Sweeny promptly unloaded them with a double to left center, giving the Wild Things a 7-3 lead.

Lake Erie looked to comeback in the top of the eighth as centerfielder Connor Oliver led off with a deep home run over the right field fence, but that as close as the Crushers would get in the inning, leaving them down three with one inning to go. The Wild Things tallied the final run in the bottom of the eighth as Bohn drove in Pollock with a double to right center.

Trevor Foss (10-4) is set to start on the mound as the Wild Things look to sweep the series in game three tomorrow, start time is slated for 5:05 p.m.

Boxscore: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=379308