Jun 17, 2015 5 min read

Too bad the Wild Things couldn’t have banked some of those 13 runs they scored Tuesday night and saved them for a rainy day.

Just one or two would have come in handy Tuesday at soggy Consol Energy Park.

Southern Illinois scored on a solo home run and a sacrifice fly, and Matt Bywater and three relievers combined on a six-hitter, as the Miners edged Washington 2-1 in a Kids Day game that had a 10:30 a.m. start time.

Less than 24 hours after setting a season high for runs and hitting three homers, the Wild Things generated scoring opportunities and plenty of stolen bases against Southern Illinois but could push only one runner across home plate.

“We had many opportunities. We just didn’t get that timely hit,” Washington manager Bob Bozzuto said.

Opponents haven’t been getting many hits or runs lately against Southern Illinois starter Matt Bywater (6-0). The left-hander, who was the Frontier League Pitcher of the Year last season, was coming off a no-hitter Friday night against Evansville. It was only the second no-hitter in Miners history and the 25th ever thrown in the Frontier League.

Washington eliminated the possibility of putting Bywater and Johnny Vander Meer – the only major leaguer to throw two consecutive no-hitters – in the same sentence when it produced a pair of hits in the first inning. However, the Wild Things stranded two runners that inning and went on to leave nine runners on base for the game. Six of the nine were left in scoring position.

“We’re not clicking on all cylinders,” Washington center fielder Danny Poma said. “It’s still early. There are more than 60 games left and we have a lot of good players in this lineup, guys with Double-A and high-A experience. You’ll have good days and bad days. We’re just trying to get consistent.”

Consistency has been Bywater’s calling card. The former seventh-round draft pick of the Baltimore Orioles won his 10th consecutive decision and hasn’t lost since last August. This time, he didn’t have much margin for error. Third baseman Steve Marino gave Bywater a 1-0 lead when he hit a home run leading off the second inning against Washington starter Luke Wilkins (2-2).

It appeared that one run might be all the support Bywater would need. Effectively using a sinking changeup, Bywater struck out nine in six innings but the Wild Things tied the score in the bottom of the sixth. With Lee Orr on second base, Poma hit a changeup into right centerfield that made it a 1-1 game.

“The biggest thing with (Bywater) is he has a very good changeup,” Poma said. “The bottom fell out of it. It had really good sink. He left one up to me and, against a guy with a good changeup, you have to look to hit the ball to right centerfield.”

Wilkins walked the first two batters of the seventh and those free passes, along with a surprise two-strike bunt by Jerrud Sabourin, the No. 3 hitter in the Miners’ lineup, proved to be the difference in the game. Sabourin, after fouling off two bunt attempts, dropped down a perfect bunt single up the third-base line that loaded the bases.

“I had taken the bunt off,” Southern Illinois manager Mike Pinto explained. “Jerrud put that bunt down on his own. He knew the situation. He knew we had to get the runners over.”

With the bases loaded, Frank Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to right field that brought home Aaron Gates with the go-ahead run. The Wild Things managed to escape the inning down only 2-1, then put five runners on base over the final three innings against the Miners’ bullpen but couldn’t produce the tying run.

“Losing the game on a leadoff walk is what kills me,” Bozzuto said. “It has been proven that a leadoff walk scores 70 to 80 percent of the time. You just can’t do that.”

Washington, which had six stolen bases in as many attempts, left two runners on base in the seventh and two more in the eighth. A one-out error let the potential tying get aboard in the ninth but the Wild Things hit into a game-ending double play.

Southern Illinois reliever Will Rankin got the final three outs for his league-leading 10th save.

“One of the things we talked about in the dugout early in the game was that we needed a timely hit,” Bozzuto said. “We never got one.”

The three-game series concludes tonight (7:05). … The all-time series between the Wild Things and Miners is tied 25-25. … It was Southern Illinois’ first win at Washington in more than two years. … Bywater was taken out after throwing 100 pitches. He threw 199 in his no-hitter. … Sabourin was 3-for-5. … Washington reliever Matt Purnell threw two scoreless innings to lower his ERA to 0.42.