Wild Things win third straight
The slog back to .500 continued Wednesday night for the Wild Things.
Right fielder David Popkins hit a two-run homer and threw out a runner at home plate, pitcher Matt Snyder earned his first victory with Washington and the Wild Things won their third consecutive game, 4-3, over the Lake Erie Crushers at Consol Energy Park.
Andrew Heck and Ricky Rodriguez also drove in runs for the Wild Things, who improved to 35-37 and began to distance themselves from a six-game losing streak – all on the road – that was snapped Tuesday night in a doubleheader sweep of the Crushers.
Washington will try for a four-game series sweep in the finale tonight (7:05).
The Wild Things improved to 7-1 against Lake Erie.
“We’ve done well against our division, and that’s why we’re still in it,” Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. “The guys know where we are in the standings. This was a big night.”
Washington remains in second place in the East Division and five games behind Joliet, but the Wild Things pulled to within 2 1/2 games of Normal for the final wild-card playoff berth. The Frontier League’s regular season runs through Sept. 4.
Popkins’ two-run, opposite-field homer to left field capped a three-run third inning that gave the Wild Things a 3-0 advantage. All three runs scored with two outs.
Washington scored again with two outs in the sixth as Heck’s line-drive single to left field scored Logan Uxa from third base and made the score 4-1. Heck had two hits and reached base three times.
Uxa will be placed on the retired list today. Langbehn said Uxa, who batted .257 with six home runs in 43 games, received an intership with the Colorado Rockies’ marketing department.
Rodriguez (2-for-4), who began the night batting .300, gave Washington a 1-0 lead in the third when he singled off Lake Erie starter Mike Devine (7-6) to drive in Heck, who had doubled.
Lake Erie, which has lost four in a row, pulled to within 4-3 in the eighth when shortstop Eric Gabe hit a two-run homer off lefty reliever Brian O’Keefe. Gabe entered the night hitting .429 against left-handed pitching.
Andrew Woeck replaced O’Keefe with two outs in the eighth and retired all four batters he faced for his third save. Woeck had two strikeouts.
Snyder (1-0), who was signed by Washington last week when the Cleveland Indians purchased the contract of pitcher Trevor Foss, got his second professional win. He had one victory this season with Fargo of the American Association.
Snyder pitched in and out of trouble for 5 1/3 innings, allowing five hits and two walks but only one run. That came in the fourth inning when a wild pitch by Snyder allowed Grabe to scamper home from third base.
“His stuff is workable, serviceable. He has enough velocity to give some guys trouble,” Langbehn said of Snyder, who is a native of Londonville, N.Y. “His pitch count was a little high but he hung in there.”
Popkins ended what could have been a big fourth inning for Lake Erie when he caught Max Casper’s shallow fly ball and then threw out Richard Seigel, who tagged and tried to score from third base. Popkins’ throw was in time for catcher Kyle Pollock to make the tag for the inning’s final out.
Crushers third baseman Brendan Costantino, who is a Monongahela native, had about 50 family members and friends in attendance. Costantino went 1-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. … The start of the game was delayed for 29 minutes by rain. … Lake Erie left fielder Robb Paller had his bat slip from his hands during a swing in the fifth inning. The bat flew into the crowd behind the Wild Things’ dugout. Paller wanted the bat back but the fan who caught it wouldn’t oblige. A Wild Things player eventually gave the fan a baseball in exchange for the bat being returned to Paller. The fan was later given a bat.