Jul 10, 2013 5 min read

Multiple lineup changes, daring baserunning and even a well-executed trick play are entertaining elements that can spark a baseball team to victory, but there remains no substitute for the proven combination of home runs and a dominant starting pitcher.

The Lake Erie Crushers kept it simple Wednesday, hitting three home runs and combining them with six shutout innings from starting pitcher Alex Kaminsky to defeat the free-falling Wild Things, 6-4, in a Kids Day game.

The loss was the seventh in eight games for the Wild Things (22-25), who have fallen three games below .500 for the first time since the third day of the season.

Lake Erie right fielder Daniel Bowman did much of the damage, going 3-for-4 with three RBI, a double and two solo home runs. Andrew Davis hit his league-leading 12th home run, the tail end of back-to-back homers for Lake Erie in the seventh.

The Crushers forged a 6-0 lead before the Wild Things scored three times in the bottom of the seventh and once in the ninth. Washington managed to get the potential tying run to the plate with one out in the ninth before Dale Dickerson secured his seventh save of the season and second in as many days.

“Washington wouldn’t go away,” Lake Erie manager Jeff Isom said. “We were up 6-0 and then they made it interesting in the ninth.”

Making a game of it is not exactly what Washington manager Bart Zeller wants these days. His club desperately needs a win and some momentum before the all-star break.

“I’m not interested in making it interesting,” he said. “It was too little too late. We need to start early, like Lake Erie did, and keep adding on.

“It’s good that we have enthusiasm and everybody is pulling for one another, but when you’re down five or six runs, it’s a steep hill to climb. Our pitchers need to put some zeroes on the scoreboard.”

And they need to find a way to get Bowman out. He gave the Crushers a 3-0 lead with a run-scoring double off the right-field wall in the third off Washington starter Shawn Blackwell (3-4). In the fifth, Bowman launched a long homer to left field. In the seventh, against reliever Zach Fleshman, Bowman hit another solo homer, this one hitting high off the left-field foul pole.

Bowman’s second home run came one pitch after he fouled a ball off his foot and needed about five minutes before getting back in the batter’s box.

“Two home runs for Bowman and he hits the second on one foot,” Isom said. “Hitting the ball off his toe made him cut down his swing.”

They were only the third and fourth homers of the season for Bowman, a talented 6-1, 215-pounder who was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds following his junior season at Coastal Carolina University (did not sign) and then went undrafted after being the Big South Conference Player of the Year as a senior.

Bowman is in his second season with Lake Erie and will play in next week’s Frontier League All-Star game at Consol Energy Park. Many who follow the league wonder why the multi-tool player is still in the league.

“I don’t know why he’s not in affiliated ball. He should be,” Isom said. “He runs very well and he’s a good outfielder. I keep waiting for that phone call that he’s going to affiliated ball, but it hasn’t happened.”

The game didn’t start well for Washington as it fell behind 2-0 after only two batters. Max Casper’s triple scored Craig Hertler with the first run, and Casper came around to score when the relay throw to third base got away. Washington committed three errors in the first four innings, but they didn’t hurt as much as the home runs and two inning-starting walks by Blackwell that eventually produced runs.

“Strike one is the pitch we’re not getting. And our pitchers don’t own the inside part of the plate,” Zeller lamented. “Good pitchers let hitters know they’re not going to be comfortable in the batter’s box. And our relief pitchers have to put up zeroes when they get in the game. That’s their job.”

Kaminsky (4-4) gave up four hits and one walk in his six innings. Washington finally scored after the Crushers went to their bullpen.

A walk to Shain Stoner in the seventh was followed by Mark Samuelson’s single, Jim Vahalik’s double and a sacrifice fly by Gus Benusa to make it 6-2. Alex Buccilli doubled into the right-field corner, scoring Vahalik and cutting Lake Erie’s lead to 6-3.

Samuelson drew a walk from Dickerson in the ninth and scored when Vahalik followed with his second double.

Extra bases

The start of the game was delayed 16 minutes because of rain. … Isom is in his first season with Lake Erie after manging the Wild Things (2002-03) and Traverse City (2006). His teams are 71-31 all-time at Consol Energy Park. … Vahalik, Washington’s catcher, suffered a broken nose during the Wild Things’ road trip last week but has missed only one game. … After the game, Washington acquired catcher Matt Mirabel from the Gateway Grizzlies in exchange for future considerations. Mirabel was batting .357 (5-for-14) in nine games with the Grizzlies.